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Food PoisoningFood poisoning is a common illness, affecting one in six Americans annually. It occurs when people consume any food or drink tainted with certain bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Food poisoning can also be caused by consuming a variety of toxins that develop on crops or are consumed by animals that humans may then slaughter and eat. Norovirus is the leading cause of food poisoning in the US. Other top sources include salmonella, listeria, and E. coli, which are all bacteria. Food poisoning's common symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. Symptoms may begin hours or days after eating a contaminated substance. When your body is exposed to one of these disease-causing pathogens, it often leads to vomiting, diarrhea, or both, as it tries to remove the toxins from the digestive tract. Beyond short-term sickness, these infections can also lead to more severe, longer-term health complications. Thorough hand-washing, proper cooking, and safe food preparation are key steps to prevent illness. The economic burden of food poisoning in the US totaled almost $75B in 2023, mostly due to the high cost of treating serious illnesses and lost employee wages.Explore Food Poisoning

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We can get food poisoning from spending time in swimming pools, lakes, rivers, and pondsSome 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. Wisconsin Department of Health Services Pooping or puking out pathogens is sometimes recommended with food poisoningSometimes stopping food poisoning-linked diarrhea with over-the-counter medications is a bad idea because it may prolong illness. Doctors can advise you if your diarrhea or vomiting is severe about what medications to take and when, but generally doctors recommend trying to stay hydrated during a bout of food poisoning and letting the body naturally remove pathogens from the body via vomiting or diarrhea, as needed. Cleveland Clinic Food poisoning can sometimes cause serious long-term health issuesAlthough foodborne illness can be relatively mild and cause short-term discomfort, more rarely it can also cause long-term severe health consequences, depending on your individual risk factors, the severity of your sickness, and the care you receive. Kidney failure is one serious complication associated with certain types of food poisoning. Meningitis, hepatitis, arthritis, and pancreatitis are also rare and serious foodborne illness complications. If a pregnant person gets food poisoning, it can cause health issues for the fetus. Michigan State University Cantaloupe’s textured skin boosts the risk of food poisoningFood safety expert Darin Wetwiler says he prefers to stay clear of this fruit altogether since it’s so hard to keep the textured skin pathogen-free. He advises trying to avoid pre-cut cantaloupe in particular, since consumers won’t know when the fruit was sliced and pathogens on the outside could have been spread to the part we consume during slicing and multiplied. Northeastern Global News Food poisoning investigations have led to more than 1 billion pounds of food recallsPulseNet 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. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Climate shifts are projected to cause more cases of food poisoningResearch published in 2024 suggests that with more severe heatwaves and natural disasters, scientists expect there to be a rise in foodborne disease, especially in Africa and Asia. Already, there are an estimated 600 million food poisoning cases and 420,000 deaths annually. Diarrhea is the most common cause of those deaths. Mongabay Severe cases of food poisoning have doubled even as food recalls droppedFood 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. University of Minnesota CIDRAP Natural toxins produced on plants or consumed by animals may cause food poisoningWhen humans eat plants with certain natural toxins on them—including a family of toxins called aflatoxins that fungi produce on crops like peanuts and corn— they can become ill with food poisoning. Toxins can still harm humans even if animals or plants appear fine to the human eye. The World Health Organization advises that we should throw away moldy or discolored foods, refrain from eating wild plants or mushrooms that aren’t definitively nonpoisonous, and remember that just because something is “natural” it’s not always safe to eat. World Health Organization Alexander the Great, Rudyard Kipling, and more may have died from food poisoningThough it is hard to prove decades or centuries after their deaths, some researchers suspect that food poisoning killed a variety of historical figures, including US President Zachary Taylor in 1850: Some researchers believe he may have consumed food contaminated with *Salmonella*. Michigan State University See the incubation periods for certain food poisoning-causing organismsRead this chart that lists common food sources of different foodborne illness-causing pathogens and typical times between exposure and symptom onset. US Food and Drug Administration Reporting food poisoning aids in limiting outbreaksIf 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. US Department of Health & Human Services Norovirus is the leading cause of food poisoning in the USThe 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. Norovirus Foundation Restaurants are where most of us contract food poisoning in the USFrom 2014 to 2022, most reported foodborne illness cases occurred at restaurants. Between 2020 and 2022—when COVID-19 also likely influenced restaurant eating habits and tracking—there were only 238 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to restaurants, down from 714 the prior two years. Still, restaurants were behind most reported outbreak cases. (Some readers may experience a paywall.) Statista 1 in 6 Americans get food poisoning each yearThe 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. US Food & Drug Administration See why food poisoning makes you feel nauseousScroll through these illustrations to learn what’s happening behind the scenes with bacterial foodborne illnesses, including why we sometimes vomit and how the body reacts to toxins secreted by bacteria. BBC Science Focus Magazine Food companies usually issue recalls voluntarily and you can be automatically notified about themProtecting yourself from food poisoning means staying on top of food recall announcements. Notices about these from the US government, which you can automatically receive after signing up at this link, note what products have been recalled by food companies. Companies alert the US Food and Drug Administration or the US Department of Agriculture when they issue recalls so the public can stay informed. US Food and Drug Administration Foods shouldn't be defrosted on the counter, but microwaving to defrost is okayThis wide-ranging video from the US Food and Drug Administration explains causes of food poisoning and tips for consumers. The agency's advice includes that we should separate meat and eggs from our veggies and fruits in our shopping carts, during food prep, and in the fridge (with meat located below veggies in the refrigerator in case it drips). US Food and Drug Administration In the 19th century, ice-cream-related illnesses were somewhat regular in AmericaIce 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. JSTOR Daily How many people get sick from foodborne illness in the US? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that nearly 10 million people contract foodborne illness annually, and 931 die. Researchers say such illnesses are underreported, although reports have decreased 65% between 1998 and 2023. USAFacts

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