Americans Still At Risk For Food Poisoning

Walking into a fast-food restaurant or a seafood diner could be a high-risk proposition, according to a presentation at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Association for Clinical Chemistry in Orlando.

At the beginning of the 21st century, one would expect improved sanitary conditions to eliminate the threat of food poisoning.

But even in advanced nations, the public can be threatened by water supplies contaminated by pesticides, a salmonellosis epidemic in New England eggs, salmonellosis in Illinois milk, and listeriosis, found in California-Mexican cheese, said Donald Cannon from Quest Diagnostics Inc., in Teterboro, N.J.

For 8,000 Americans last year, eating such contaminated food led to death.

Sanitary conditions may have improved in this country. But increased globalization, increased travel by Americans, and the growing popularity of gourmet cooking has led to exposure to food groups that may be inherently toxic.

The warning signs for some food types, such as mushrooms, are well known. But the public would be surprised to find a yellow flag hoisted for a wide range of foods and food components. They include whole wheat flour, potassium chloride, thiamine, vitamin A (too little), raw eggplant, raw egg whites, iron supplements, caffeine (iron), magnesium (renal), and raw cabbage (iodine).