Like all other living things, bacteria need food to survive and multiply. Like most creatures they prefer some foods more than others. It is on these foods that we are more likely to find food poisoning bacteria, in fact you may remember that earlier we saw that certain raw foods were an important source of pathogenic bacteria.

Revision: Can you remember the most important raw foods that are sources of food poisoning bacteria?
If you are not sure, go back to the beginning of Part B and check.

You will see that the foods where pathogenic bacteria are most usually found are normally moist and high in protein.
Such foods include;

• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Eggs
• Milk and dairy products
• Rice

Bacteria generally do not grow well on the following foods;

• Dried food
• Pickled food
• Food with high salt content e.g. bacon
• Jam and other food with high sugar levels

The foods most likely to make people ill are those on which bacteria multiply most quickly and are not cooked before they are eaten. These are known as high-risk foods. High-risk foods are "ready-to-eat foods which are ideal for bacteria to multiply on and will be eaten without further cooking". Such high-risk foods include;