If you’re a fan of leafy greens, it may be fair and, sometimes, right to avoid the side salad aisle whenever a massive food recall in your local grocery happens. However, a current report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are many more foods that you may need to be concerned about.
In the report, the researchers found 5,760 outbreaks causing 100,939 illnesses, 5,699 hospitalizations, and 145 deaths in the U.S. alone. The produce often involved with outbreaks were fish, dairy, and chicken. They affect the population in varying degrees. Fish, for example, were responsible for 17 percent of all outbreaks.
However, other foods also be the source of several other outbreak-related illnesses. These were chicken, pork, and seeded vegetables. Chicken was responsible for 12 percent of cases while pork and seeded vegetables each are responsible for 10. Other foodborne illnesses are more worrying than others. Fortunately, the most common ones tend to be less serious.
The researchers also found that norovirus was responsible for 38 percent of the outbreaks, salmonella was responsible for another 30 percent, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes 6 percent of illnesses. Other causes like campylobacter, clostridium perfringens, scombroid toxin, etc., were responsible for 5 percent or fewer outbreaks.
Norovirus, the most common, is a contagious illness that affects your gastrointestinal tract. It tends to cause food poisoning symptoms such as the excessive release of gas, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and uneasiness for those who have it. Typically, the symptoms last for around three days. While it’s common, especially in confined spaces like restaurants and cruise ships, most healthy adults can recover from it, provided that they drink a lot of water.
When talking about viruses and bacteria that can cause a dent in your insurance, the top culprits were salmonella, listeria, and STEC. While salmonella and listeria are heavily associated with poorly-processed meat and vegetables, they tend to find their way into more inconspicuous foods that are not typically risky. Such examples include cereal, peanuts, and crackers. Usually, you’ll find them sealed in plastic, but such discoveries can be problematic.
In most healthy adults, many foodborne illnesses will be uncomfortable but fleeting. However, it might not come and go for some. Those who are most susceptible are people who have pre-existing conditions compromising their immunity. That includes people with HIV, cancer patients, pregnant women, the elderly, and very young children with underdeveloped immune systems. These groups tend to have a much weaker immune system and are less likely for their bodies to combat the diseases more properly, unlike healthy adults. As such, when these diseases may infect them, they tend to experience many severe symptoms. Thus, extra care must be an investment towards these groups.
Interestingly, the CDC report showed that, in cases where health officials could pinpoint a source of an outbreak, it almost always starts from restaurants, while only 12 percent began in private homes. In restaurants, the typical culprits to a food-related outbreak are sit-down-style restaurants, followed by banquets and schools. While restaurants have the most number of outbreaks recorded, they tend to record the least number of people affected. In contrast, schools tend to register the highest number of cases.
A big reason why most outbreaks happen in restaurants is that safety protocols and investments in sanitary equipment and procedures tend to be quite lopsided. In contrast, whenever we make our food at home, extra care is put towards making them. This is to ensure that everyone in the house can eat them safely.
While caution still needs to be exercised for foodborne illnesses, it is best not to worry about them too much. However, you can be smart about avoiding them, like choosing which foods you eat carefully.
Photo Sources:
Cover – Pixabay / bonbonj
Photo #1 – Pixabay / WikiImages
Photo #2 – Pixabay / bysusychen
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