Food 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.
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Scroll 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.
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.
From 2014 to 2022, most reported foodborne illness cases occurred at restaurants. Between 2020 and 2022—when COVID 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.
A US government estimate puts the cost of all foodborne illness in 2023 at almost $75 billion dollars. In a report published by the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, government analysts detailed how the burden of foodborne illness includes medical costs, but also more hidden costs like lost wages. The analysis also breaks down estimated costs by pathogen.
In 1968, 50% of an Ohio school got ill from this foodborne pathogen. The disease name is a nod to that original strain discovered in Norwalk, Ohio, when half the elementary school students became ill. Almost all kids reported nausea and vomiting. Everyone recovered.
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.
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.
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.
Read this chart that lists common food sources of different foodborne illness-causing pathogens and typical times between exposure and symptom onset.
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.
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