Foodborne illness is caused by consuming contaminated foods or beverages. Many different disease-causing microbes or pathogens can contaminate foods, so there are many different types of foodborne illnesses. Most foodborne diseases are infections caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

In the US, norovirus is the most common cause of illness from contaminated food or water—but food isn’t the only way people can get norovirus. It also spreads easily from person-to-person.

Illness caused by microbes, pathogens, poisonous chemicals, or other harmful substances in food. What are the most common foodborne diseases? Norovirus, Salmonella, and Clostridium perfringens.

The most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States is the norovirus. The virus causes watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and flulike symptoms.

Among the 31 known foodborne pathogens: Norovirus caused the most illnesses. Nontyphoidal Salmonella, norovirus, Campylobacter, and Toxoplasma caused the most hospitalizations.

They list “The Big 6” pathogens (Norovirus, Nontyphoidal Salmonella, Salmonella Typhi, E. coli, Shigella, and Hepatitis A) as being highly infectious, able to cause severe disease in small quantities, and each will be featured individually in this series of articles.

Let’s begin with the “Big 5” foodborne pathogens stated by the CDC and the FDA. These five foodborne pathogens include norovirus, the Hepatitis A virus, Salmonella, Shigella, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7.

Follow these 5 principles to help prevent foodborne illness:

1. Wash Your Hands.
2. Properly Handle Raw Animal Products.
3. Use Clean and Sanitized Utensils, Equipment, and Surfaces.
4. Use Food Before It Expires.
5. Keep Animals Away from Food and Food Preparation Areas.

How to Prevent Foodborne Illness

1. Wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before preparing, serving, and eating food.
2. Clean all food preparation surfaces that will come in contact with food.
3. Wash fresh fruits and vegetables with plain water before eating or cooking.

Follow these steps to prevent foodborne illness: clean, separate, cook, chill, and report. Clean: Germs can survive in your hand, utensils, and cutting boards. Wash hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, scrubbing the back of your hands, between fingers, and under nails.

4 Basic Steps for Food Safety

1. Clean. Always wash your food, hands, counters, and cooking tools. Wash hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
2. Separate (Keep Apart) Keep raw foods to themselves.
3. Cook. Foods need to get hot and stay hot.
4. Chill. Put food in the fridge right away.

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans outlines four basic food safety principles: CLEAN, SEPARATE, CHILL and COOK. These principles directly align with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ four simple tips to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

Foods that are potentially hazardous inside the danger zone:

• Meat: beef, poultry, pork, seafood.
• Eggs and other protein-rich foods.
• Dairy products.
• Cut or peeled fresh produce.
• Cooked vegetables, beans, rice, pasta.
• Sauces, such as gravy.
• Sprouts.
• Any foods containing the above, e.g. casseroles, salads, quiches.

4 hours

It’s a basic fact that every cook should know: bacteria that cause illness inevitably end up on nearly every ingredient we cook with, and even boiling won’t kill all of them. Boiling does kill any bacteria active at the time, including E. coli and salmonella. And the spores can survive boiling temperatures.

about 4 hours

As the USDA notes in Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency, your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power. After a power outage never taste food to determine its safety.

Proper defrosting reduces your risk of food poisoning. If food is not thawed properly, bacteria that may have been present on their surface before freezing can begin to multiply. If raw meat is partly frozen when you cook it, it can lead to uneven cooking.