4.01 Foodborne Illness

E. coli

You may have heard of the outbreak of E. coli in the USA in 2018-2019 associated with romaine lettuce. For months, we could not get a Caesar salad anywhere! The large amount of the organism that came in contact with the lettuce resulted in a large number of illnesses, especially since romaine lettuce is often eaten uncooked in salads and on sandwiches. Cooking food is one way to reduce the number of pathogens in food.

The outbreak of E. coli may have been due to fertilizer that came in contact with a crop of romaine lettuce. Because the USDA could not immediately identify the source, they recalled all fresh romaine from the market for several months. This cost our economy millions and required that many restaurants and manufactures change their product ingredients. This example should highlight the importance of food safety.

Read the article Avoid Romaine Lettuce for Now, Consumer Reports Says for all the details about the latest big outbreak.

Pathogens

Foodborne pathogens are normal and generally nothing to fear. Our bodies are designed to combat these pathogens and usually take care of it without you ever knowing you were exposed. However, we must be careful to practice good sanitation in order to keep them at safe levels. The problem generally occurs through poor food handling techniques which allow the pathogens to multiply to unsafe levels.

Now we will look at some common pathogens, the food they are commonly associated with, how to prevent them and physical symptoms of being exposed to them in amounts large enough to cause illness.