Food safety
If you are receiving chemotherapy, high dose steroids, or immunotherapy as part of your cancer treatment, it's advised to follow food safety advice to avoid picking up an infection through food poisoning.
Common food-based germs like Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and Campylobacter can cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems.
Chemotherapy and high dose steroids can:
- Lower white blood cell counts
- Reduce the body’s ability to fight bacteria, viruses, and fungi
- Increase the risk of complications from food poisoning
Immunotherapy works by stimulating the immune system rather than suppressing it like traditional chemotherapy. While risk of food poisoning is lower than with chemotherapy, foodborne illness can still be more dangerous than in the general population.
Principles of food safety
- Avoid high risk foods
- Practice good hand hygiene when handling food
- Comply with "use by" dates and "best before" dates
- When eating out, choose retailers with 4 or 5 star or food hygiene ratings
- Follow good practice with the 4 C's:
- Cleaning
- Cooking
- Cross contamination
- Chilling