Top 10 Riskiest Foods

What do strawberries and oysters have in common? Both make the list of the top ten foods responsible for the most outbreaks of foodborne illness since 1990 in the United States. Oysters, okay–but berries?

A century ago, typhoid fever, tuberculosis and cholera were the common foodborne diseases. Improvements in food safety (think pasteurization, safe canning, disinfection of water supplies) have conquered those diseases–but a host of other foodborne diseases have stepped up to the plate, so to speak, to take their places. Foodborne disease outbreaks are currently responsible for tens of millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths every year in the United States.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) published their report of the top ten riskiest foods (FDA Top Ten) overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is responsible for regulating produce, seafood, egg and dairy products, as well as packaged foods such as cookie dough and peanut butter. The FDA regulates nearly 80 percent of the American food supply. From the CSPI, here they are–followed by precautions from the CDC on how to reduce the risk:

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Julie D.

10:27PM PDT on Mar 27, 2012

Good information! Thanks!

send a green star

Teresa C.

10:08PM PDT on Mar 13, 2012

Lots of the foods I like in my salads are mentioned here. I just figure I'll choose carefully, wash thoroughly, and enjoy--I'm definitely not the type to starve quietly--or starve at all!!

Deanna J.

1:05PM PDT on Mar 13, 2012

Funny how most of the pollution seems to come from animal-based foods, and the plant foods that are contaminated usually acquire the disease from an animal source.

So, eating only plant foods and washing/cutting/peeling/cooking my food properly, with some vinegar added into my producec wash to kill bacteria, should protect me from most food-borne illness.

Good to know

Talya H.

9:20PM PDT on Mar 12, 2012

Wow, thanks for the info!!!

Marilyn J L.

1:19PM PDT on Oct 8, 2011

13 very, very short pages? Come on. Even without squeezing, this could be boiled down to 3. Have a little respect for your readers.

Michele W.

12:44PM PDT on Sep 28, 2011

Thank you

Caitlin F.

1:31AM PDT on Sep 23, 2011

thanks for the article.