Foodborne Illness Fact vs. Myth

1. Foodborne illness is just a temporary inconvenience.
2. Small children are the only ones at risk for severe cases of foodborne illness.
3. E. coli bacteria are found everywhere and we just shouldn't worry about them.
4. Salmonella may be in some chicken and eggs, but it really is just a nuisance- nothing serious.
5. All doctors receive medical training in foodborne diseases.

**Fact: Foodborne Illness Can Be Extremely Serious, or Even Fatal**

6. Safe cooking can prevent all foodborne disease.
7. You can look at meat, poultry and seafood while they’re cooking and tell when they’re done and safe to eat.
8. Washing Poultry and meat will prevent foodborne illness.
9. It’s OK to quickly grab up food that has dropped on floor or in the sink and use it.
10. If food has mold on it, it is still okay to eat as long as you cut the mold off.
11. You can thaw meat safely in the refrigerator, or counter.

**Fact: Food Safety is NOT as Simple as Just Wash and Cook Your Meat**

12. The United States has the safest food supply in the world.
13. The government quickly and efficiently removes/recalls foods they know to be harmful from the marketplace.
14. It’s easy for public health officials to figure out what causes foodborne disease - that’s why we see so many outbreaks in the press.
15. There is someone in charge of food safety in the U.S.
16. I can just buy organic foods to make sure my family stays safe.
17. All fresh juices, and dairy products are pasteurized.
18. All restaurants are inspected regularly.

**Fact: Although Many Improvements Have Been Made Since STOP's Inception, There is Still Much More to be Done.**

19. Foodborne illness is caused by the last thing you ate.
20. If other people ate the same meal that you did and did not get sick, then that meal did not cause your illness.
21. You have to eat a contaminated food to come down with a foodborne disease.
22. Contaminated food smells or tastes funny.
23. Foodborne illness is caused by food that has spoiled.
24. Symptoms such as stomachache, vomiting, and diarrhea are caused by “the stomach flu.”

**Fact: FOODBORNE ILLNESS IS NOT YOUR FAULT!**
 

1. Foodborne illness is just a temporary inconvenience.
While some foodborne illness only causes a temporary and minor inconvenience, many foodborne illnesses are being linked to long-term disease, severe health consequences, and even death. E. coli O157:H7 is the leading cause of acute kidney failure in American children and can also lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, and seizures. Salmonellosis can lead to reactive arthritis, and Campylobacteriosis causes a significant amount of sudden-onset paralysis (Guillain Barre Syndrome). The long-term consequences of foodborne disease are not well understood, and have become a major area for STOP’s programmatic work.

2. Small children are the only ones at risk for severe cases of foodborne illness.
While certain populations such as small children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with weakened or compromised immune systems are most at risk for severe disease, anyone come down with a severe case of foodborne illness. Listeriosis is extremely harmful for pregnant women and can cause miscarriage or early delivery. Listeria monocytogenes bacteria are found in many ready-to-eat foods including hot dogs, cold cuts, soft cheeses, and pates. Listeria grows at refrigeration temperatures and is killed by thorough heating. Fresh produce needs to be thoroughly cleaned and care should be given to only choose whole unbroken fruits and vegetables.

3. E. coli bacteria are found everywhere and we just shouldn't worry about them.
While all mammals have some types of helpful and harmless E. coli in their digestive tracts, there are about 100 strains of E. coli known as shigatoxic E. coli, which are found in the farm animals we consume and they can be very harmful to human health. They contaminate our food when farm animal fecal contamination spills onto meat at slaughter or gets into water used to irrigate produce. The most well-known of these is E. coli O157:H7. When consumed in food or water, E. coli O157:H7 and other shigatoxic E. coli release a very potent toxin (a shigatoxin), which can cause bloody diarrhea and a variety of other severe complications including kidney failure and death. Once these bacteria are in our foods, the only way to kill them is by cooking them to 180°F. This is problematic for produce that is eaten fresh without a kill step.

4. Salmonella may be in some chicken and eggs, but it really is just a nuisance - nothing serious.
All Salmonella are not created equal…there are close to 2,500 different strain types of Salmonella; some are found in very specific places and types of food while others are more general in their distribution. While most people recover from a Salmonella infection, it can cause very serious complications including a debilitating disease known as Reactive Arthritis. The very young, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are most likely to develop serious complications. While cooking to 165 °F will kill the bacteria, juices from the raw chicken can cross-contaminate hands, utensils, counters, cutting boards, sinks, kitchen towels, and anything else they come in contact with. Raw juices can make you just as sick as eating undercooked poultry.

5. All doctors receive medical training in foodborne diseases.
There is no specific mandatory foodborne illness education in medical school. Training for the diagnosis and treatment of foodborne illness is not standardized. Furthermore, every state has its own reporting laws and processes around infectious diseases and foodborne illness and local and state health departments do very little outreach to educate the medical professionals in their areas on these issues.

6. Safe cooking can prevent all foodborne disease.
While cooking raw foods to their recommended temperatures is a safeguard that can help protect families, cross-contamination from raw meat and poultry to utensils, hands, platters, and cutting boards presents many risks. In addition, fresh fruits and vegetables eaten without a cooking kill step are causing more and more outbreaks of foodborne disease.

7. You can look at meat, poultry, and seafood while they’re cooking and tell when they’re done and safe to eat.
The only way to know for sure that a food is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill the bacteria is with a meat thermometer. 1 out of 4 hamburgers turns brown before it has been cooked to a safe internal temperature. Research shows some ground beef patties look done at internal temperatures as low as 135ºF. Juice and meat color is not an accurate sign of doneness.

8. Washing poultry and meat will prevent foodborne illness.
Washing poultry can remove pathogens only from the surface. However, you run a large risk of cross-contaminating your kitchen in the process. That is why it is safer to just cook your meat to the correct temperature, which kills all surface and internal pathogens.

9. It’s okay to quickly grab food that has dropped on floor or in the sink and use it.
The 5-second rule is an urban myth. You cannot drop food on the floor or in the sink for any amount of time without it picking up whatever germs it comes in contact with. In general, your kitchen sink is the dirtiest place in the house for harmful microbes.

10. If food has mold on it, it is still okay to eat as long as you cut the mold off.
Visible mold usually means that the food has been invaded by mold and should be thrown out. The mold you can see are colonies of mature mold spores, but invisible threads of immature mold extend away from those spores into what looks like untainted areas of a food.

11. You can thaw meat safely in the refrigerator or counter.
The refrigerator is the safest place to thaw meat and poultry because it keeps meat out of the temperature danger zone. This zone, between 40°F and 140°F, creates the perfect environment for bacteria to multiply quickly. That is why we want to keep meat out of this zone whenever possible. If you need to thaw meat quickly, defrost it in the microwave and then cook it immediately. NEVER thaw meat on the counter. It increases the risk of cross-contamination, and puts meat in that danger zone where bacteria multiplies.

12. The United States has the safest food supply in the world.
This statement is commonly heard from legislative and regulatory officials, but there are many ways to measure safety and the statistics backing up this statement are never mentioned. If measurements were done amongst industrialized countries based on rates of illness or deaths, or on effectiveness of food inspection, or on the efficiency of recall or identifying outbreaks, the results would be debatable at best.

13. The government quickly and efficiently removes/recalls foods known to be harmful from the marketplace.
It is a difficult and lengthy process to actually find and identify the food products that are making people sick. Precious time can be lost while consumers are still purchasing and eating foods during this period. Furthermore, once contaminants are found, the USDA has no authority to actually initiate a recall, The FDA just gained that right in 2011, with the passage of The Food Safety Modernization Act.

14. It’s easy for public health officials to figure out what causes foodborne disease - that’s why we see so many outbreaks in the press.
Actually, the reported outbreaks that you hear and read about in the press are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to foodborne illness. Only 4-6% of all cases of foodborne disease are linked to outbreaks with an identified food item. This is due many factors including the fact that most people who fall ill do not seek medical care, and only a small portion get diagnosed through stool culture tests. Only a small number of those diagnosed go on to be reported and investigated by health departments. Ultimately, very few cases link up with other others that report eating similar foods.

15. There is someone in charge of food safety in the U.S.
There is not one person, or even one federal agency, in charge of food safety in the U.S. The USDA, FDA, CDC, EPA and other agencies all play a role in overseeing food production and regulating food products in the United States and often operate under differing rules with differing objectives. There is not one single federal agency in charge of supervision at the farm level of animals that go into food production. In the case of large national foodborne illness outbreaks, the lack of coordination between the agencies and lack of one single authority often makes it difficult to protect public health.

16. I can just buy organic foods to make sure my family stays safe.
Organic processes and labels offer protection against pesticides and chemicals, but do not normally have any added value in terms of microbial contamination. Organic certification has nothing to do with microbial food safety.

17. All fresh juices and dairy products are pasteurized.
Federal law requires that all fresh juices that cross state lines (interstate shipment) be pasteurized. However, juices that are produced and consumed within one state (intrastate shipment) are exempt from this rule. That means that roadside, farm-fresh juices and ciders as well as those fresh–squeezed on-site for smoothies and restaurant meals do not, legally, need to be pasteurized. Several states also allow the sale of unpasteurized milk, and unpasteurized cheeses are a delicacy and are very common. Soft cheeses such as blue cheese, feta, queso blanco, etc. are often unpasteurized. The Academy of Pediatrics in its December 12, 2008 newsletter, states “Raw or unpasteurized milk can transmit many serious infectious diseases to children. Furthermore, there are no documented health benefits associated with ingestion of unpasteurized milk or milk products.” Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems should avoid unpasteurized products. Always ask before buying or ordering a juice or dairy product if you don’t see a prominent pasteurization label.

18. All restaurants are inspected regularly.
Restaurant inspections vary a great deal in terms of frequency and thoroughness; based upon the county and the funding available. Some restaurants are inspected 3-4 times a year, while others are inspected yearly or less. There is also considerable variation in punishment when food safety violations are found, and how and when inspection information is shared with the public.

19. Foodborne illness is caused by the last thing you ate.
Foodborne illness can be caused by food eaten a few hours ago, a few days ago, a few weeks ago, and sometimes even a few months ago. The length of time between when you eat something and when you get sick (called the incubation period) can vary greatly depending on the microbe making you sick

20. If other people ate the same meal that you did and did not get sick, then that meal did not cause your illness.
The bugs that cause foodborne disease are not equally scattered throughout your food; they can be in one part and not in another. In addition, every person has a unique immune system, which may react differently even when eating the same contaminated food. Recovery from a foodborne illness is dependent on many factors including age, general health, the immune system of the individual, whether or not they have just had surgery, or just finished taking antibiotics, the particular microbe and the amount of it ingested and the timing and quality of medical care.

21. You have to eat a contaminated food to come down with a foodborne disease.
People who are sick can also pass the diseases on through the fecal oral route (when someone ends up with feces in in their mouth, usually unknowingly). This can happen when water comes in contact with feces and, food has been handled with feces present, when people do not clean thoroughly after handling feces or anything that has been in contact with it. For this reason, babies and toddlers who are ill should be excluded from daycare, and sick restaurant and food workers should be sent home. Hospitals and nursing homes are also settings where foodborne illnesses readily pass from person to person without adequate hand washing and good hygiene. Farm animals can contaminate fresh water streams, ponds, and rivers with microbes that will make you sick if you swim in the water and ingest any of it. Young children who are ill and have diarrheal accidents in community pools or local ponds can cause the same problem. Children have often gotten ill at petting zoos and fairs by contact with carrier animals, such as reptiles (turtles and lizards) and birds (baby chicks).

22. Contaminated food smells or tastes funny.
Food that smells or tastes funny may be spoiled. However, dangerous bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria have no a smell or taste.

23. Foodborne illness is caused by food that has spoiled.
Foodborne illnesses are mostly caused by contamination due to bacteria, viruses and parasites that do not affect the appearance, taste, smell, or texture of the food you eat. While some of these contamination bugs will increase in number while we store food, it is important to have safeguards in place so food isn’t contaminated when it reaches our kitchens and restaurants in the first place.

24. Symptoms such as stomachache, vomiting, and diarrhea are caused by “the stomach flu.”
The term “stomach flu” actually refers to gastroenteritis or irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines (the gastrointestinal tract). This term is often used incorrectly as “the flu,” which is a respiratory virus, and has symptoms of fever, congestion, muscle aches, and tiredness.