Poultry fingered as #1 food poisoning culprit

ATLANTA (AP) — Cooking chicken on the grill this summer? Be careful. Poultry is still the leading culprit in food poisoning outbreaks, health officials said Thursday.

Chicken, turkey and other poultry accounted for 17 percent of the food-borne illness outbreaks reported to the government. Beef and leafy vegetables were close behind, at 16 percent and 14 percent.

The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covers outbreaks in 2007. Poultry was also the No. 1 source of outbreaks in 2006.

Salmonella and other kinds of bacteria caused about half of the outbreaks, the CDC said. Viruses — like norovirus — caused about 40 percent, mushroom toxin or other chemical agents were blamed for 7 percent. Parasites accounted for 1 percent.

Several things can cause an outbreak. For example, an infected person might contaminate the food while handling it. A contaminated food may be left out a room temperature for hours, allowing bacteria to multiply. It may not be cooked enough to kill the bacteria.

The CCD counted more than 21,000 illnesses in about 1,100 outbreaks in 48 states and Puerto Rico. There were 18 deaths from food poisoning.

It's far from a complete picture, however. Experts estimates that only about 5 percent of people who get food poisoning are part of a recognized outbreak, which is a cluster of two or more cases.

An estimated 87 million cases of food-borne illness occur in the United States each year, including 371,000 hospitalizations and 5,700 deaths, according to an Associated Press calculation that combines a CDC formula with recent population estimates.

The CDC also closely tracks food-borne illnesses in 10 states to watch for food poisoning trends. Its report for last year showed rates of food-borne illness have been holding steady for the past five years.

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Better cook that chicken until it stops clucking.:lol:

Luckily I'm not susceptible.

With the state that most processing plants are in and the fact that USDA corruption within the plants is rampant, this is not at all surprising. There was a running joke at the plant in Buena Vista about USDA inspectors taking sex and kickbacks for passing and or overlooking things that were unacceptable.

I also witnessed more than a few times how absolutely terrible most of the line workers were. Like the cut line where they would drop portions and then throw them back up on the cut table before sending them down the line. Or the Evis line where water jets malfunctioned and birds werent being properly cleaned before being sent to further processing.

It was by far the most foul place i have ever been in my life. The only way i can eat chicken now is if i completely forget i was ever there.

I'm not surprised, that's why you cook it thoroughly.

Well I cook my chicken till its about burnt and wash everything carefully. The only thing I cook rare is beef.

People, in restaurants or at home, tend to be generally stupid with food, you can't leave meats or dairy or eggs sitting out all day and expect not to get sick.

With the state that most processing plants are in and the fact that USDA corruption within the plants is rampant, this is not at all surprising. There was a running joke at the plant in Buena Vista about USDA inspectors taking sex and kickbacks for passing and or overlooking things that were unacceptable.

I also witnessed more than a few times how absolutely terrible most of the line workers were. Like the cut line where they would drop portions and then throw them back up on the cut table before sending them down the line. Or the Evis line where water jets malfunctioned and birds werent being properly cleaned before being sent to further processing.

It was by far the most foul place i have ever been in my life. The only way i can eat chicken now is if i completely forget i was ever there.

Alter_Echo

I think they need to reconsider the wording of the headline.

tl;dr, but I would imagine it has to do with people not cooking it properly.

And poultry is my #1 source of meat, oh no! :othriteenthmonke

tl;dr, but I would imagine it has to do with people not cooking it properly.

airshocker

You just won the Gong Show.:P:lol:

It isn't tl;dr with paragraphing...only when it's a "wall of text".:P

You just won the Gong Show.:P:lol:

It isn't tl;dr with paragraphing...only when it's a "wall of text".:P

topsemag55

Well I saw the NUMEROUS paragraphes and figured I'd get around to it later while posting my input at the same time. :)

[QUOTE="topsemag55"]

You just won the Gong Show.:P:lol:

It isn't tl;dr with paragraphing...only when it's a "wall of text".:P

airshocker

Well I saw the NUMEROUS paragraphes and figured I'd get around to it later while posting my input at the same time. :)

No prob...you were open, so I had to poke a little fun your way, I couldn't help myself.:P

who the hell fingers poultry?!

Don't leave your chicken out in the sun :P..

No prob...you were open, so I had to poke a little fun your way, I couldn't help myself.:P

topsemag55

Lol. Fair enough.