Foodborne Illnesses

What You Need to Know

Keep food safe! Give bacteria no chance!

Recent Recalls & Outbreaks

Summertime Food Safety Tips

• Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot!
• Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible, but definitely within 2 hours.
• Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator or microwave. Never thaw frozen foods on the counter.
• Wash your hands and utensils before and after handling food. Humming the "Happy Birthday" song twice is a good way to ensure you are washing long enough.
• Scrub cutting boards with hot, soapy hot water after preparing each item and before moving on to the next food.
• Cover any cuts or abrasions on your hands to avoid contaminating the food.
• Keep raw and cooked foods separate.

Learn more about safe food handling during the summer season(PDF, 143KB).

Becoming a Safer Shopper

• Check “sell-by” and “use-by” dates. Do not buy products that are out of date.
• Do not buy or use damaged, swollen, rusted, or dented cans.
• Choose unbruised fruits and vegetables.
• Do not eat “self-serve” foods or free food samples.
• Do not buy or use cracked or unrefrigerated eggs.
• Pick up frozen and refrigerated items just before you check out at the grocery store.
• Refrigerate groceries right away, and never leave perishable foods out for more than 2 hours.
• Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other items in your shopping cart and in your grocery bags.

Dining Out

• Go out to eat early to avoid large crowds. Busier restaurants may be more likely to make a mistake with your food.
• Always ask that your food be prepared fresh.
• Avoid high-risk food sources, such as salad bars, delicatessens, buffets, potlucks, and street food vendors.
• Do not eat raw fruits or vegetables (i.e. salads) when eating out since you cannot be sure that these foods were properly washed.
• Avoid “fresh-squeezed” juices; always ask if juices are pasteurized.
• Ask if pasteurized eggs are used in dishes containing egg.
• When taking food to-go, always put the food in the to-go container yourself instead of having the server do it for you.

Foodborne Germs

• Botulism
• Campylobacter
• Clostridium perfringens
• Cyclospora
• E. coli
• Listeria
• Norovirus
• Salmonella
• Shigella
• Vibrio

For a more complete list of foodborne germs, see the Foodborne Illness A-Z Index.

Bacteria, virus or parasite? Check the list of foodborne germs and illnesses by type.