Are Stomach Flu And Food Poisoning The Same?

2. Cause of Food Poisoning

Food poisoning also affects the digestive system, but is caused by eating food containing harmful bacteria, not by a virus.  This is why food poisoning is referred to as bacterial gastroenteritis.  Bacteria such as Campylobacter, Clostridium perfringens, or the more infamous Salmonella and E. coli, usually  contaminate our food because of unsanitary food handling methods, or unsanitary food preparation techniques.  Improper storage that does not control time and temperature of the food is sometimes the cause of the proliferation of bacteria.  Food that is stored too long in temperatures conducive to bacterial development (between 4∞C to 60∞C or 40∞F to 140∞F) are potential sources of bacterial infection.