List of 10 worst bacteria and food combinations

William Atkins
Friday, 29 April 2011 21:59

Science - Health

An American report from the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida states for the first time the top ten combinations of bacteria and foods that come together to produce the worst food-borne illnesses that U.S. citizens suffer each year.

At the top of the list is campylobacter bacteria and poultry - it is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States.

The Florida report states that this combination of bacteria and food (campylobacter bacteria and poultry) causes about 600,000 Americans to become sickened each year, and at a annual cost of about $1.3 billion.

The second worst bacteria-food combo is toxoplasma and pork, which is followed by listeria in deli meats, salmonella in poultry, and listeria in dairy products.

In all, the top 10 bacteria-food combinations cost Americans over $8 billion in medical care and other such services each year.

For more on this report, please read The Wall Street Journal article 'Report: The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations That Most Hurt Public Health', which also includes the actual report produced by the University of Florida's (Gainesville, Florida) Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI).

The WSJ article quotes Dr. Glenn Morris, the director of the EPI and one of the authors of the study and report.

Dr. Morris states, 'The public-health impact isn't the number of cases of 24-hour diarrhea' but focuses 'towards the diseases that cause long-term disability and death.'