An estimated 76 million cases of foodborne disease or food poisoning occur each year in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of these cases are mild and cause symptoms for only a day or two. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.
Most of these infections are undiagnosed and unreported. Some cases are more serious. The CDC estimates that there are 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths related to foodborne diseases each year. More than 250 different foodborne diseases have been described. Most of these diseases are infections, caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
The most commonly recognized foodborne infections are those caused by the bacteria Campylobacter, Salmonella, and E. coli, and by a group of viruses called calicivirus, also known as the Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses.
The Food and Drug Administration estimates that 2-3% of all foodborne illnesses lead to secondary long-term illnesses. For example, certain strains of E. coli can cause kidney failure in young children and infants; Salmonella can lead to reactive arthritis and serious infections; Listeria can cause meningitis and stillbirths; and Campylobacter may be the most common precipitating factor for Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Since “Man does not live by bread alone”, how can you avoid getting food poisoning? Here is a list of the foods most likely to make you sick, according to the CDC.
- Raw Shellfish
Oysters and other filter feeding shellfish can concentrate Vibrio bacteria that are naturally present in sea water, or other microbes that are present in human sewage dumped into the sea. A large number of studies have detected norovirus in oysters. Additionally, infected fishermen have contaminated oysters as they harvested them. Sounds like an aphrodisiac to me.
- Ground Beef
A single hamburger may contain meat from hundreds of animals. When meat is ground, more of the meat is exposed to the harmful bacteria. According to the USDA, pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Staph cause illness and can be present in your meat. These harmful bacteria cannot be seen or smelled. Do you want cheese with that burger?
- Alfalfa Sprouts
The conditions under which sprouts are grown are ideal for growing microbes as well as sprouts. That means that a few bacteria present on the seeds can grow to high numbers of pathogens on the sprouts.
Each year, people become ill from drinking raw milk and eating foods made from raw dairy products. Unlike most of the milk, cheese, and dairy products sold in the United States, raw milk and raw dairy products have not been heat treated or pasteurized to kill germs. Raw milk and raw dairy products may carry many types of disease-causing germs such as Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Yersinia, and Brucella. My brother-in-law described working in a dairy as a young man when the milking machine fell into cow manure (still sucking away). When he said they simply plugged it back onto the cow’s udder, I got a little queasy. Got raw milk?
- Raw Eggs
Bacteria can be on the outside of a shell egg. That’s because the egg exits the hen’s body through the same passageway as feces is excreted. That’s why eggs are washed and sanitized at the processing plant. Bacteria can be inside an uncracked, whole egg. Contamination of eggs may be due to bacteria within the hen’s ovary or oviduct before the shell forms around the yolk and white. Salmonella doesn’t make the hen sick. It is also possible for eggs to become infected by fecal contamination through the pores of the shells after they’re laid.
The following are bacteria associated with chicken:
- Enteritidis may be found in the intestinal tracts of livestock, poultry, dogs, cats and other warm-blooded animals. This strain is only one of about 2,000 kinds of Salmonella bacteria; it is often associated with poultry and shell eggs.
- Staph can be carried on human hands, in nasal passages, or in throats. The bacteria are found in foods made by hand and improperly refrigerated, such as chicken salad.
- Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of diarrheal illness in humans. Preventing cross- contamination and using proper cooking methods reduces infection by this bacterium.
- Listeria was recognized as causing human foodborne illness in 1981. It is destroyed by cooking, but a cooked product can be contaminated by poor personal hygiene (in other words, wash your hands).
You can reduce your risk for foodborne illness by following safe food-handling recommendations and by avoiding consumption of unpasteurized milk, raw or undercooked oysters, eggs, or ground beef, and undercooked poultry. Additional information on food safety is available at http://www.foodsafety.gov/.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Fight Bac!
- Quality Health: 6 Dirtiest Foods in America
- USDA: Focus on Ground Beef