The Item

June 12, 2008

By Gina Vasselli - Item Intern

Consumers can't tell if something has salmonella just by looking at it, said Ann Louise Gittleman, a salmonella expert and author of "The Gut Flush Plan."

"It's an invisible illness," Gittleman said. "It's not like things smell bad or look tainted."

She said people won't know something they've eaten had salmonella until they get sick.

"It's very scary," she said. "Your life is in your own hands."

She said the general symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea and nausea.

The Center for Disease Control said those symptoms, as well as fever and abdominal cramps, often develop 12 to 72 hours after infection.

Gittleman said people can also experience chronic arthritic-type pain and can still be excreting the bacteria in their stool for up to two months.

She said the safest foods to eat are locally grown, but that "the best bet is grow your own."

"You have to really understand that eating is something you're taking into your own hands," she said. "You can't be 100 percent protected."