There are an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne illness per year in the U.S. This means the odds of any one person suffering from a foodborne illness during the year is about 1 in 4. It is estimated that 325,000 of these cases are serious enough to require hospitalization and 5,000 cases result in death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foodborne illness can result in long-term detrimental health effects such as arthritis. The most sever cases tend to occur in the very old, the very young, those who have an illness already that reduces their immune system function, and healthy people exposed to a very high dose of a pathogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food that contains a foodborne pathogen will look, smell and taste normal for the most part. Generally speaking, most bacteria and viruses that cause foodborne illness are odorless, colorless and tasteless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s easiest to think about preventing foodborne illness if you think of prevention in terms of five basic rules:<\/p>\n\n\n\n