Can You Do Anything to Not Get a Foodborne Illness These Days?
As Chipotle restaurant stores reopen, experts remind us that one in seven Americans get sick from food every year. (Corbis)
In the wake of the announcement that the Chipotle restaurants that were temporarily closed down to an alarming E. coli outbreak in the Pacific Northwest, the above quote comes in from experts to let the public know that the chances of foodborne illnesses are actually much more frequent that the public is aware of. Around forty-eight million people are sickened with foodborne illnesses each year in the United States alone! About one hundred and five thousand of these people end up in the hospital and around two thousand cases are fatal! If you break it down, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are telling us that about one in seven people get sick from food every single year, with some cases from eating at home, but many cases from restaurant food outbreaks as well.