Restaurants are where most of us contract food poisoning in the US

1 in 6 Americans get food poisoning each year

The US federal government estimates there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the country annually, resulting in as many as 3,000 deaths and 128,000 hospitalizations. Food poisoning puts those with weakened immune systems, the elderly, pregnant people, and young children at particularly high risk. This chart of common disease-causing pathogens highlights common threats and details about them, including likely food sources.

Severe cases of food poisoning have doubled even as food recalls dropped

Food recalls were down in 2024 by 5% as compared to 2023. But some researchers suspect that’s just because there were fewer inspections or fewer people reporting illnesses: Hospitalizations from food poisoning more than doubled during that same period, from 230 to 487, and deaths rose from 8 to 19.

Food poisoning investigations have led to more than 1 billion pounds of food recalls

PulseNet is the US government’s real-time foodborne illness tracking system for leading causes of food poisoning. There, a network of labs and scientists share DNA sequences for pathogens collected from contaminated food and also from sickened individuals, looking for patterns in the pathogens’ genome sequences that will help them hopefully finger a certain food, warehouse, producer, or restaurant.

Norovirus is the leading cause of food poisoning in the US

The illness is typically transmitted when virus-laden feces gets into another person’s mouth. That occurs when people do not properly wash their hands, contaminating food or surfaces.

Reporting food poisoning aids in limiting outbreaks

If you suspect you were sickened by meat or poultry or by other food products (or your pet was sickened), the US has different voluntary online reporting forms and hotlines you can call. There’s even one for concerns about potentially contaminated pet food products. If you were potentially sickened at a restaurant, however, you report that directly to state and local health departments, not the federal government.

There were more than 20 reported cruise ship outbreaks in 2025

A cruise ship outbreak is officially considered an outbreak when 3% or more of the people aboard a ship report being sick with gastrointestinal illness. It happens often enough that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a whole program just related to tracking such foodborne illness outbreaks.

The US restaurant industry generates over $1T in sales

In 2024, the industry brought in $1.1T, and the National Restaurant Association anticipated reaching $1.5T in 2025, numbers that are considered a return to normal after the tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry also employs a large workforce, with over 13 million employees. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Lengthy incubation periods are why it’s tough to link foodborne illness to specific foods

People may not get sick from a foodborne pathogen for several days after consuming it, making it a challenge to link the illness and its cause. Factors influencing when a person starts feeling sick—even as the pathogen is multiplying in the gut—include individual variations in immune systems and gut microbiomes, what other foods are in the person’s body, and how much of the pathogen was consumed.

We can get food poisoning from spending time in swimming pools, lakes, rivers, and ponds

Some of the same pathogens that may sicken us in food or water may also sicken us in recreational swimming environments. Bacteria can rub off of people’s (or animal’s) bodies or contaminate the water through a diarrheal episode. Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds before eating food if you are at the beach, pool, or other similar environments and being sure not to swallow the water are ways to help keep safe.

Pizza's popularity has waned in the 2020s

The food remains popular, but it has lagged behind the growth of other fast food spots like coffee shops and Mexican restaurants. It ranked sixth in US food sales from restaurant chains in 2024; it was in the second slot throughout the 1990s. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Only 28% of Americans think restaurant prices are fair

Seven in 10 Americans dine out at least once a month, but only 28% of diners think menu prices are fair, a 2025 YouGov survey found. That changes only slightly by income, with 44% of higher-income Americans finding the prices fair.

Restaurants are ramping up chicken dishes in 'The Great Chickening'

For decades, consumption of poultry meat has been on the rise in the US. Even more recently, restaurants have been focused on using the bird, citing its reliability, versatility, and the rising cost of beef. Nonetheless, avian flu has caused prices to fluctuate.

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the US

In the US, ticks account for 90% of all disease transmission from bites, including mosquitoes. And Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US overall, with estimates suggesting there are about 475,000 Lyme cases annually across the nation.

Mapping the spread of a dangerous fungus growing in US healthcare facilities

Explore the data showing how the fungus C. auris has spread in the US, with more than 10,000 reported cases since 2016. Recommended steps to prevent infections and limit their spread have been successful in some areas, but infection control remains complicated because the fungus is often now multidrug-resistant.

The US had about 155.4 million emergency room visits in 2022

Of those emergency incidents, the largest share of patients were between the ages of 25 and 44 and were in the southern part of the US. More than 43 million of the visits involved injuries, including poisonings.

In the 19th century, ice-cream-related illnesses were somewhat regular in America

Ice cream was a popular dessert, but it was also a dangerous one, with numerous reports of vomiting, diarrhea, and—in some cases—death. Historians argue this was likely due to vendors' poor hygienic practices.

America's most haunted restaurants

If you're seeking a ghost encounter to go with your meal, consult this list from Infatuation that presents some of the most haunted restaurants and bars in the US. Depending on your mood, make a visit to a casual sports bar, fine dining establishment, or eerie mansion, and potentially witness a spirit. Some might mess with the electricity, some might prank you, and some may simply wander around as you enjoy bites and sips.

Current US measles outbreak data from the CDC

This data portal from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks current cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from measles. A 2025 outbreak in Texas and New Mexico drove US cases to their highest levels since the early 1990s.

Most Americans are now dying at home, reversing 20th century trends

For most of the 21st and 20th centuries most Americans died in hospital settings. But in 2016, home-based deaths overtook hospitals; most Americans are now dying at home, likely fueled by individual preferences to die at home or to receive at-home palliative care.

COVID accelerated antibiotic resistance

The COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a virus, and viruses can’t be treated with antibiotics. But recent research finds that COVID patients were given a tremendous amount of antibiotics, contributing to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Why? This NPR feature sheds light on an unexpected side effect of the pandemic.

Increasing contact between humans and wild animals is driving zoonotic threats

Zoonotic diseases, which spread from animals to humans, present one of the most significant emerging threats worldwide. Scientists have identified around 200 viruses capable of infecting humans, and unfortunately, the number of such diseases are on the rise—at least 60% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

Delivery apps have realigned the restaurant industry

As delivery apps like Grubhub and DoorDash became popularity, traditional dine-in restaurants have adapted to become more accommodating. In this thinkpiece for the Atlantic, Ellen Cushing argues that it's both changed the kind of food being made and realigned our very notion of a restaurant. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

There are roughly 7,000 Korean restaurants in the US

A generation ago, the average American had never heard of kimchi or bulgogi, but these days, Korean cuisine is booming in the United States. And it’s no accident. This one-minute explainer video from Morning Brew reveals what role the government played in boosting the popularity of Korean food abroad, and what it all has to do with foreign debt and soap operas.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

About 69% of dangerous Black Friday incidents happen inside retail stores

Some posit that this is because tensions tend to run high there as customers fight over a limited physical supply of discounted goods. Another 20% of incidents take place at store entrances, where long lines often form well before the retailer opens its doors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many private schools offered in-person classes

By early 2021, approximately 76% of private schools offered some form of in-person learning compared with 38% of public schools.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.