Information from
CDC
What foods are most associated with
foodborne illness?
Raw foods of animal origin are the
most likely to be contaminated; that is, raw meat and
poultry, raw eggs, unpasteurized milk, and raw
shellfish. Because filter-feeding shellfish strain
microbes from the sea over many months, they are
particularly likely to be contaminated if there are any
pathogens in the seawater. Foods that mingle the
products of many individual animals, such as bulk raw
milk, pooled raw eggs, or ground beef, are particularly
hazardous because a pathogen present in any one of the
animals may contaminate the whole batch. A single
hamburger may contain meat from hundreds of animals. A
single restaurant omelet may contain eggs from hundreds
of chickens. A glass of raw milk may contain milk from
hundreds of cows. A broiler chicken carcass can be
exposed to the drippings and juices of many thousands of
other birds that went through the same cold water tank
after slaughter.
Fruits and vegetables consumed raw are
a particular concern. Washing can decrease but not
eliminate contamination, so the consumers can do little
to protect themselves. Recently, a number of outbreaks
have been traced to fresh fruits and vegetables that
were processed under less than sanitary
conditions. These outbreaks show that the quality of the
water used for washing and chilling the produce after it
is harvested is critical. Using water that is not clean
can contaminate many boxes of produce. Fresh manure used
to fertilize vegetables can also contaminate
them. Alfalfa sprouts and other raw sprouts pose a
particular challenge, as the conditions under which they
are sprouted are ideal for growing microbes as well as
sprouts, and because they are eaten without further
cooking. That means that a few
bacteria present on the seeds can grow to high numbers
of pathogens on the sprouts. Unpasteurized fruit juice
can also be contaminated if there are pathogens in or on
the fruit that is used to make it.
What can consumers do to protect
themselves from foodborne illness?
A few simple precautions can reduce
the risk of foodborne diseases:
COOK meat,
poultry and eggs thoroughly. Using a thermometer to
measure the internal temperature of meat is a good way
to be sure that it is cooked sufficiently to kill
bacteria. For example, ground beef should be cooked to
an internal temperature of 160o F. Eggs
should be cooked until the yolk is firm.
SEPARATE:
Don't cross-contaminate one food with another. Avoid
cross-contaminating foods by washing hands, utensils,
and cutting boards after they have been in contact
with raw meat or poultry and before they touch another
food. Put cooked meat on a clean platter, rather back
on one that held the raw meat.
CHILL:
Refrigerate leftovers promptly. Bacteria can grow
quickly at room temperature, so refrigerate leftover
foods if they are not going to be eaten within 4
hours. Large volumes of food will cool more quickly if
they are divided into several shallow containers for
refrigeration.
CLEAN: Wash
produce. Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables in running
tap water to remove visible dirt and grime. Remove and
discard the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or
cabbage. Because bacteria can grow well on the cut
surface of fruit or vegetable, be careful not to
contaminate these foods while slicing them up on the
cutting board, and avoid leaving cut produce at room
temperature for many hours. Don’t be a source of
foodborne illness yourself. Wash your hands with soap
and water before preparing food. Avoid preparing food
for others if you yourself have a diarrheal
illness. Changing a baby’s diaper while preparing food
is a bad idea that can easily spread illness.
REPORT: Report suspected foodborne illnesses
to your local
health
department. The local public health
department is an important part of the food safety
system. Often calls from concerned citizens are how
outbreaks are first detected. If a public health
official contacts you to find our more about an
illness you had, your cooperation is important. In
public health investigations, it can be as important
to talk to healthy people as to ill people. Your
cooperation may be needed even if you are not ill.
Are some people more likely to
contract a foodborne illness? If so, are there special
precautions they should take?
Some persons at particularly high risk
should take more precautions.
- Pregnant women, the elderly, and
those weakened immune systems are at higher risk for
severe infections such as
Listeria and should be particularly careful
not to consume undercooked animal products. They
should avoid soft French style cheeses, pates,
uncooked hot dogs and sliced deli meats, which have
been sources of
Listeria infections. Persons at high risk
should also avoid alfalfa sprouts and unpasteurized
juices.
- A bottle-fed infant is at higher
risk for severe infections with
Salmonella or other bacteria that can grow in
a bottle of warm formula if it is left at room
temperature for many hours.
Particular care is needed to be sure the baby’s bottle
is cleaned and disinfected and that leftover milk
formula or juice is not held in the bottle for many
hours.
- Persons with liver disease are
susceptible to infections with a rare but dangerous
microbe called
Vibrio vulnificus, found in oysters. They
should avoid eating raw oysters.
What can consumers do when they eat
in restaurants?
You can protect yourself first by choosing which
restaurant to patronize. Restaurants are inspected by
the local health department to make sure they are clean
and have adequate kitchen facilities. Find out how
restaurants did on their most recent inspections, and
use that score to help guide your choice. In many
jurisdictions, the latest inspection score is posted in
the restaurant. Some restaurants have specifically
trained their staff in principles of food safety. This
is also good to know in deciding which restaurant to
patronize.
You can also protect yourself from
foodborne disease when ordering specific foods, just as
you would at home. When ordering a hamburger, ask for it
to be cooked to a temperature of 160oF and
send it back if it is still pink in the middle. Before
you order something that is made with many eggs pooled
together, such as scrambled eggs, omelets or French
toast, ask the waiter whether it was made with
pasteurized egg, and choose something else if it was
not.
Where can I learn more about food
safety and foodborne diseases?
National Food Safety Initiative
CDC's Food Safety Initiative home page
U.S. Food and Drug
Administration
U.S. Food Safety
and Inspection Service (FSIS)
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Role of the federal agencies in food safety
Gateway to
government food safety information
Partnership for
Food Safety Education/Fight BAC!TM
Food Safety Training and Education Alliance
Foodborne Illness Information Center
National Food Safety Education Month
Travelers'
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