What type of food-related illness is caused by staph bacteria?

Staphylococcus bacteria can lead to food poisoning through the production of toxins. Ingesting foods contaminated with these toxins can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea within a few hours after consumption. The key factor here is that the illness is not due to the bacteria multiplying in the intestines, but rather through the toxins they produce before the food is eaten. This characteristic defines staphylococcal food poisoning as a specific form of food poisoning, which is why "food poisoning" is the correct answer.

In contrast, intoxication refers more generally to illnesses caused by consuming pathogens that produce toxins, while allergies are immune responses to specific proteins in food. Contamination broadly refers to the presence of harmful substances in food, which can indeed include staph bacteria, but does not specifically define the resulting illness type caused by those bacteria.