Fast Five Quiz: This Thanksgiving, Are You Prepared to Confront Food Poisoning?

Richard H. Sinert, DO

November 23, 2015

In a 2013 report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators used data spanning the decade between 1998 and 2008 to report estimates for annual US food-borne illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths attributable to each of 17 food categories. The following were among their findings:

Leafy green vegetables were the most common cause of food poisoning (22%), primarily due to Norovirus species, followed by E coli O157.
Poultry was the most common cause of death from food poisoning (19%), with Listeria and Salmonella species being the main infectious organisms.
Dairy items were the second most frequent causes of foodborne illnesses (14%) and deaths (10%), with the main factors being contamination by Norovirus from food handlers and improper pasteurization resulting in contamination with Campylobacter species.

For more on the epidemiology of food poisoning, read here.

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Cite this: Richard H. Sinert. Fast Five Quiz: This Thanksgiving, Are You Prepared to Confront Food Poisoning? - Medscape - Nov 23, 2015.

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