Many Americans are unaware that Salmonella poisoning causes real illness with real costs. In the U.S., direct medical cost associated with the treatment of Salmonella poisoning total about $1 million each day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“We need to understand the true burden of Salmonella in our food,’’ said Fred Pritzker, a national food safety lawyer, who is publishes Food Poisoning Bulletin. “If we don’t raise awareness, we’ll never get the interventions we need to stop food poisoning.’’
Each year, about 1.5 million Americans are sickened by Salmonella poisoning.
Public health officials in Illinois and Kentucky are investigating separate outbreaks of Salmonella associated with independent Mexican restaurants. Combined, the Hacienda Don Villo outbreak in Channahon, Illinois, and the Casa Mexicana outbreak in Madisonville, Kentucky, have sickened about 50 people. In Kentucky, one of the outbreak patients has died.
“Every outbreak of Salmonella carries the prospect of life-long illness for unsuspecting families,’’ said Fred Pritzker, founder of national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys. Pritzker said too many people downplay the burdens of Salmonella infection, which can trigger an assortment of long-term illness in some patients. In others, Salmonellosis resolves itself with no medical attention and the illness is over.
Several news outlets are reporting that a Salmonella outbreak in Limestone County, Alabama is associated with an annual bean dinner fundraiser in Athens at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center, held by the Limestone County Foundation on Aging. At least six people have been confirmed ill with the pathogenic bacteria.
The dinner was held on Friday night, October 4, 2013. The hospital then saw “dozens of people” over the weekend with symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. The Alabama Department of Public health is now involved and will testing food that is left over from the meal.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a public health alert Monday after an estimated 278 illnesses in 18 states caused by Salmonella Heidelberg were linked to consumption of raw chicken produced at three Foster Farms facilities in California.
FSIS said while the illnesses had not been been linked to a specific product or production period, raw chicken from the company’s California facilities bear one of the these establishment numbers inside a USDA mark of inspection or elsewhere on the package: “P6137,” “P6137A,” and “P7632.” The products were mainly distributed to retail outlets in California, Oregon and Washington state.
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