食中毒(しょくちゅうどく)

食中毒(しょくちゅうどく) is food poisoning — illness caused by eating contaminated food.

Formation: 食(しょく) 'food' + 中毒(ちゅうどく) 'poisoning.' Note that 中毒(ちゅうどく) on its own also means 'addiction,' but in this compound only the poisoning sense is present.

Collocations

• 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく)になる: to get food poisoning (of the sufferer)
• 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく)を起(お)こす: to cause an outbreak (of a food or an establishment)
• 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく)が発生(はっせい)する: an outbreak occurs
• 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく)を防(ふせ)ぐ: to prevent food poisoning
• 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく)警報(けいほう): a food-poisoning warning, issued by local authorities in hot, humid weather

Cultural note: 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく) is a live public-health topic in Japan, partly because raw and lightly cooked foods are common. Warnings peak in 夏(なつ) for bacterial causes and in winter for norovirus. Common culprits named in the news: サルモネラ菌(きん) (salmonella), ノロウイルス (norovirus), O157 (a strain of E. coli), and カンピロバクター (campylobacter, associated with undercooked chicken).