The truth about food poisoning: Most common culprits

Injuries to Children,Our Blog | March 18, 2015

Food poisoning is the topic of the week on our blog, and if you have read our past two posts, you know that food-borne illnesses can wreak havoc on a person’s life for a lot longer than a week.

In fact, bacteria such as E. coli can end up causing life-threatening problems years after a person has seemingly recovered from the infection.

So, the best thing to do is avoid being infected by food-borne illnesses, if at all possible. A recent article from The Atlantic may be able to help you do that by identifying some of the most common sources of food poisoning, according to a report by the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Agriculture.

  • Beef and vegetable row crops are the most common culprits when it comes to transmitting E. coli, the report showed.
  • Seeded vegetables are often carriers of salmonella, closely followed by fruit, eggs, chicken, beef, pork and sprouts, the report indicated.
  • When it comes to campylobacter, the report showed that dairy is the most common carrier by a long shot, with chicken representing a smaller percentage.
  • For listeria, fruit and dairy are responsible for most outbreaks, according to the report.

Since the foods included in the report make up a large portion of the American diet, it’s probably not possible to remove them all in order to prevent falling victim to food-borne illness.

However, if you find yourself spending the night next to the toilet, clenching your stomach and praying for mercy, you may want to ask yourself if you have recently eaten any of the above.