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Salmonella & Food Poisoning / Food Borne Illness

Learn the Stats, Signs, Symptoms, Sources, and Means to Prevent One of The Most Common Food Poisoning Microorganisms

Last Updated: July 27, 2010

Published: December 08, 2008 by Michael Doom, REHS

 

If you are any bit involved in the food industry or you just read or watch the news sometimes, you would have heard about the ever popular and notorious Salmonella bacteria and its connection with food poisoning.  It is also very possible that you have been a victim of this disease.

Salmonella is actually one of the oldest known sources of food borne illness, going back over 100 years. It was discovered by an American scientist, Dr. Daniel E. Salmon.

Salmonella is a microscopic single cell that passes orally from the feces of people or animals to other people or animals. It makes the news fairly regularly, even in the U.S., because it is "the most frequently reported cause of foodborne illness."1

What makes Salmonella more dangerous and so common is that it can literally take very few cells to make you sick.

 

Salmonella Background and Stats in the U.S.

  • The Surveillance Report from the Food Diseases Active Surveillance (FoodNet) for 2004, identified Salmonella as the most common bacterial infection reported. (42% Salmonella, 37% Campylobacter, 15% Shigella, 2.6% E. coli O157:H7, and 3.4% others such as Yersinia, Listeria, and Vibrio).2

  • The number of confirmed cases of Salmonella related illnesses in the U.S. has decreased since 2004, with the annual reported infection rate sitting just above 30,000 annually. However, experts speculate that each year only a mere 3 percent of people who contract Salmonella food poisoning have their cases reported and even more people go undiagnosed.

  • The Center for Disease control has estimated that an astounding 1.4 million cases of Salmonella caused food poisoning occur each year.2
  • In the United States alone around 600 people die from this form of food poisoning annually. About 31 percent of all food-related deaths each year can be attributed to Salmonella infection.2

 

Sources of Salmonellosis (the medical term or condition caused by a Salmonella infection)

Consuming foods contaminated with animal feces.  How this happens, or the ways this can happen are great and varied.  Why this still occurs in our high tech society is a much bigger question.

Causes of Salmonellosis are usually related to some raw food product. Either the raw or partially cooked product was consumed directly or was the indirect source of the contamination of a cooked or ready-to-eat product. Statistics vary on the percentage of contamination, but it is best to assume that raw poultry, beef, eggs or egg based products, raw milk, shellfish and smoked fish could very possibly be contaminated with Salmonella.

Here are the two main methods for this contamination to occur:

  • Cross-Contamination – Juices from raw product (meats, poultry or seafoods) come in contact with ready-to-eat foods, such as salads, or already cooked foods ready to serve. This happens by using the same utensils, cutting boards, plates, platters or hands for the raw product without thorough washing and/or sanitizing in-between.
  • Consuming raw or partially cooked naturally hazardous foods. This includes beef (raw or rare hamburgers), poultry, egg or egg based dishes (see a list of raw egg based dishes here), seafoods (shellfish and finfish), unpasteurized dairy products (including cheese products from unknown sources i.e. someone’s home or garage). I know there are those who can not stay away from certain popular raw seafoods and even some egg dishes. You are probably already aware (but just in case you aren’t) that you are at greater risk of contracting not just Salmonella, but a number of other dangerous microorganisms.

 

Signs & Symptoms

Salmonella symptoms generally appear within 8 -12 hours of consuming the contaminated source and flow in the following order:

  • Abdominal pain including nausea and stomach cramps
  • Diarrhea and Vomiting
  • Chills, headache and dehydration

It may take 4 to 7 days for symptoms to disappear and feel human again. Most of the time normal healthy adults can recover without ever seeing a doctor. If though an infant, child, elderly person, pregnant woman, or an already ill person with weakened immune system (such as cancer, kidney disease, diabetes etc.) shows any of these signs, do not hesitate to get them to a doctor or the local emergency center ASAP. As noted above Salmonella can and does kill hundreds of people in the U.S. every year.

This of course does not mean you shouldn’t call or go in to see your doctor. Depending on how sever or long these symptoms are affecting you, the doctor may prescribe or advise some additional things for you to do, i.e. bed rest, liquids to take, off the shelf medicines, etc.

There are also a number of natural remedies and treatments you can take to help alleviate and even eliminate your symptoms.  Click on the following link to see more info on this: FoodPoisoningPrevention.com/Treatments_Remedies.htm

Prevention – Steering Clear

Prevention is both easy and difficult. It’s easy for those situations that you have some control over, such as in your own kitchen. It can be more difficult (but not impossible) for eating out at restaurants, delis, catered events, private parties, fairs carnivals etc. (To see more information on avoiding food poisoning hazards while dining out click on Signs of a Safe Restaurant, Restaurant Personal Hygiene, and Restaurant Food).

To be sure, most cases of Salmonella foodborne illnesses (and most foodborne bacteria related illnesses) can be prevented by following four basic principles:

1.  Controlling the initial number of bacteria present. This is done throughout the processing cycle of a food product – from the processing plant to your refrigerator or dinner table.

2.  Preventing the small number from growing. Even though it can take very few Salmonella cells to get you sick, the rule still applies that the more cells present the more likely you will experience full blown symptoms. Preventing these cells from growing means monitoring the temperatures of the common potentially hazardous food sources of Salmonella. Assure they are stored and processed so as to minimize the time the food must spend in what is known as the food temperature danger zone—between 41° and 135° Fahrenheit (no more than 2 hours is the best rule). This also means getting a good air temperature thermometer for your refrigerator and setting it so the reading stays at 40° F.  Place it in the warmest part, usually front and center to get the most accurate reading.

3.  Destroying the bacteria by proper cooking or heating. This means not consuming raw or partially cooked hazardous foods – including again, raw seafood, partially cooked or rare hamburger, partially cooked eggs or egg sauces, and unpasteurized or questionable sources of dairy products (milk, cheese, etc.).

4.  Avoiding re-contamination or cross contamination. Be aware of what you are doing in your kitchen and learn what your local restaurant, deli, and meat and seafood market are doing to minimize this dangerous practice (see my article on Poor Personal Hygiene Practices in a Restaurant.)

One last ounce of prevention is to stay away from foods that are from an unknown or questionable source. This means foods that do not have a label or a questionable label. This includes cheese and other dairy products, seafoods, meats as well as ready-to-eat foods. You can do this very simply by purchasing only from licensed and inspected vendors (stay away from street vendors both in the U.S. and abroad).

 

REFERENCES

1.  United States Department of Agriculture – Food Safety and Inspection Service “Salmonella Questions and Answers” http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Salmonella_Questions_&_Answers/index.asp

2.  United States Centers for Disease Control “Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States”  http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol5no5/mead.htm

About the Author

Michael Doom worked as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) for Los Angeles County for more than 21 years.  For most of these years he worked as a field inspector and Supervising Senior REHS in the retail food inspection programs. His experience within Los Angeles County has taken him to some of the smallest “mom and pop” restaurants and markets in the poorest areas of south Los Angeles, as well as to the largest facilities and affluent areas on the west side. He has literally conducted thousands of inspections of numerous types of restaurants, food markets, warehouses, events, and more; educated hundreds, if not more than a thousand, food facility owners, managers and employees on food sanitation and food safety , and how to prevent food poisoning hazards; has supervised more than 50 field inspectors that were responsible for an inventory of food facilities larger than many U.S. states.

Mr. Doom has a B.S. in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, an REHS with the state of California, holds a Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential from the Project Management Institute, and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University.  Mr. Doom continuously works to expand his knowledge and experience in the subject of food safety, sanitation and food poisoning prevention.

He can be reached at Mike@foodpoisoningprevention.com