Who is Most at Risk for a Foodborne Illness?

Outbreaks of foodborne illness are on the rise, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and everyone is vulnerable to getting sick from food poisoning.

Foodborne illnesses are surprisingly common. Even if you regularly eat a healthy diet, you can get sick if you happen to eat contaminated or improperly prepared foods or beverages. The estimated 76 million annual cases of foodborne illnesses equate to roughly one out of four people in the United States having a foodborne illness each year. If you’ve ever had an upset stomach or diarrhea, you may have suffered the effects of food poisoning even if it didn’t last long enough to require medical attention and proper diagnosis.

While most cases of foodborne illness are mild and go away in one or two days, hundreds of thousands of cases are serious enough to require hospitalization each year, and sometimes deaths occur. Perhaps you or a loved one is among those who has suffered serious complications from a foodborne illness and you are seeking information and answers to your questions.

The food poisoning lawyers at Neblett, Beard & Arsenault have been helping injured people for nearly three decades, including foodborne illness clients in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and across the country. We understand the serious consequences of foodborne illnesses. If you or a loved one has become sick from a foodborne illness, contact our food poisoning attorneys  by calling 1-800-256-1050 or fill out our online form.

You Are At Risk for a Foodborne Illness If…

You are at risk of a foodborne illness if you have eaten chicken or ground meat that wasn’t properly slaughtered and cleaned, allowing fecal bacteria to remain. If the meat or poultry wasn’t thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature, the food may harbor harmful bacteria such as E. coli or Salmonella that, once consumed, will multiply exponentially in your stomach, causing illness.

You are at risk if you’ve eaten lettuce, spinach, tomatoes or other fresh produce or fruit that was irrigated with water that contains harmful bacteria such as E. coli. You are also vulnerable to foodborne illness if you add bean and alfalfa sprouts to your sandwiches or salads. Sprouts are cultivated in conditions that breed Salmonella bacteria. Since sprouts are typically eaten raw, without being cooked, they have a greater likelihood of carrying harmful bacteria.

You are at risk if you’ve eaten seafood such as raw oysters. Oysters and other filter-feeding shellfish strain seawater to get nutrients. In feeding, they can concentrate Vibrio bacteria that are present in seawater or other microbes contained in sewage dumped into the sea.

You are at risk if you drink unpasteurized milk or fruit juices. They may contain E. coli 0157:H7, Salmonella or Listeria, which are among the leading causes of foodborne illnesses.

You are at risk if you ate food at a restaurant contaminated by a food service worker who didn’t wash his or her hands properly after going to the bathroom. Unclean hands may transfer norovirus, Shigella or Hepatitis A to food.

As you can see, foodborne illnesses are transmitted in many ways and by many foods commonly found in refrigerators, pantries, and on kitchen tables or in restaurants. So to a large extent, everyone is at risk of foodborne illness.

Some people within the general population are at particular risk for foodborne illness and should take extra precautions. Young children, the elderly, pregnant women, the immune compromised and individuals with preexisting conditions are all at higher risk for food poisoning that the general population. Individuals in these high risk groups need to be particularly aware of the dangers that foodborne illness can pose.

• Young children.
  For many common foodborne infections, the incidence of disease is highest among children less than four years old, according to federal data. Some illnesses can cause serious complications. In 2007, federal health officials identified 77 cases of life-threatening Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome (HUS) characterized by kidney failure in patients 18 or younger; more than 50 of the cases involved children four years or younger.
• Older people.
  People aged 50 or older have a greater risk than the general population of hospitalization and death from foodborne illnesses, making prompt diagnosis and treatment particularly important for this group.
• Pregnant women.
  Pregnant women are about 20 times more likely than the general population to get Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating contaminated food. About one-third of Listeriosis cases occur during pregnancy. Infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery or serious harm to the newborn. Listeriosis also affects older people and people with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS patients.
• People with chronic diseases.
  People with liver disease or weakened immune systems are more susceptible to infections, including all types of foodborne infections.  People with chronic diseases or compromised immune systems are also vulnerable to a microbe found in raw oysters, Vibrio vulnificus. These infections can be fatal to people with chronic diseases or compromised immune systems.

The foodborne illness attorneys at Neblett, Beard & Arsenault promote food safety through legal advocacy and analysis of outbreaks of foodborne illness. If you or a loved one has become seriously ill from contaminated food, contact the law firm of Neblett, Beard & Arsenault for a free evaluation of your situation. Contact our law firm by calling 1-800-256-1050 or use our online contact form.