Where You Can Get Sick

Americans eat more than three-fourths of their meals at home. As a result, most foodborne illnesses are contracted at home when people consume undercooked food, eat food contaminated with chemicals or toxins or consume food left unrefrigerated for too long.

You can also contract a foodborne illness after dining at restaurants and fast food eateries or in hotels and motels. Anywhere that food is served offers the potential for foodborne infections and food poisoning if the food isn’t properly handled, prepared and stored.

If you or a loved one has gotten seriously ill from eating contaminated food at home or elsewhere, contact the food poisoning lawyers at Neblett, Beard & Arsenault for a free evaluation of your situation. We have helped many people get their lives back on track after serious cases of foodborne illness, including clients in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and across the country. Contact our firm by calling 1-800-256-1050 or use our online contact form.

There are a number of ways that you can get foodborne illnesses at home:

• Consuming undercooked food that still has bacteria or pathogens;
• Eating food left out of the refrigerator too long, thus allowing germs to grow;
• Consuming fresh produce that was contaminated by bacteria-laden juices dripped from raw meat or poultry;
• Preparing food with a knife or cutting board that was used to cut raw meat, without washing it between uses; and
• Eating without washing your hands after using the bathroom.

A food product may come from the grocery store that was contaminated during manufacturing or processing. For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled more than 125 processed food products in the last two years containing peanut butter and peanut paste from a Georgia manufacturer because of possible Salmonella food poisoning. If fresh produce or fruit is washed or irrigated with water that is not clean, it can contaminate food. In 2006, bags of fresh spinach from California were contaminated by E. coli 0157:H7, leading to an outbreak of foodborne illness. More than 100 people were hospitalized, 31 developed the serious complication of Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome (HUS), and four died.

Restaurants also may spread foodborne illnesses. Harmful bacteria may contaminate the food served to you at a restaurant in numerous ways. The most common transmission routes for foodborne bacteria and viruses include a failure by the restaurant to store food properly, reuse of food, insufficient hand washing by food handlers and inadequate kitchen sanitation.

The foodborne illness attorneys at Neblett, Beard & Arsenault promote food safety through legal advocacy and analysis of food poisoning outbreaks. If you or a loved one has suffered serious complications from a foodborne illness, please contact Neblett, Beard & Arsenault for a free evaluation of your case. We can help you get the money you need to pay your medical bills and recover. If you or a loved one has become ill from foodborne illness, contact our firm by calling 1-800-256-1050 or use our online contact form.