Foodborne

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Associated with health risks stemming from the consumption of contaminated food items
2. Pertaining to illnesses that arise from ingesting food that has been contaminated with harmful pathogens
3. Connected to diseases or contamination resulting from consuming unsafe food

Etymology: "Foodborne" is a plain compound: "food" joined to "-borne," the same ending found in words like "waterborne" and "airborne." The second element comes from the Old English "beran," meaning "to carry" or "to bear," so the whole word describes something carried along by food. The "-borne" ending is worth a closer look, because it is the past participle of "bear" in its older sense of carrying. English once used "borne" to mean "carried," which is why phrases like "borne on the wind" still sound natural. Attaching it to a substance produces a compact way of saying that something travels through that substance and is not simply found in it. Used in this way, "foodborne" describes illnesses and pathogens that reach people by way of contaminated food, such as bacteria or viruses that spread through what we eat.

Synonyms: dietary, nutritional

Antonyms: non-foodborne