The number of Americans killed by food poisoning has surged by 50 percent in four years, according to a new CDC report.
The US has also seen a 20 percent rise in the number of people hospitalized after eating bad food, and the same increase in potentially lethal cases.
It comes amid emerging concerns about spoiled food served by some airlines — after a Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing when staff realized passengers were given contaminated food.
About a dozen of those on board were evaluated by medics for signs of food poisoning, although it is currently unclear how many ate the food.
The bacteria that most commonly contaminates food is Campylobacteria, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and fever, and in rare cases, life-threatening sepsis.
A Delta spokesperson told DailyMail.com its teams are probing the incident and have issued an apology to its costumers
Food poisoning with different bacteria can kill if patients become severely dehydrated, leading to kidney failure or gets nervous system damage, according to Cleveland Clinic.
The latest report found that food poisoning caused 31,492 infections, 7,588 hospitalizations and 184 deaths in 2023 — up from 25,866 infections, 6,164 hospitalizations and 122 deaths in 2019.
Some 85 percent of the cases in 2023 occurred on American soil, and 15 percent happened when an American picked up a bug abroad.
The total number of cases is likely higher, the CDC said, because many cases of food poisoning go unreported, as few patients seek medical help for symptoms.
There are many different bacteria and parasites that can lead someone to develop food poisoning.
You can get it from eating food that is infected with harmful bacteria, most undercooked meat.
One example is the Escherichia coli (E Coli) infections, which can cause bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever and dehydration. In recent years, Americans have found this bacteria in their ground beef and lettuce.
It’s typically found in many different kinds of meat, including beef, chicken, turkey, deer and sheep.
A rare, and particularly severe strain of this bug, called Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC), can lead to kidney failure.
This type has seen one of a rise in prevalence over the past four years, according to the report, increased by roughly 33 percent from 2019 – rising from 2,514 cases to 3,351 cases.
Other common bugs included salmonella, listeria and shigella – all of which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, fever and nausea and are commonly found in chicken, deli meats and beef, respectively.
Incidence of these infections remained stable since 2019, the report said.
Shigella infections have been spreading around homeless camps in Oregon, California and Pennsylvania, where lack of access to bathrooms makes people more likely to come into contact with human feces, which spreads the bug.
Shigella is transmitted when someone comes in contact with fecal matter through sex, diapers, food or water
E. coli (Escherichia coli) are bacteria that live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But when people are exposed to the bacteria from other sources, like through other peoples feces, they can get food poisoning
The federal government aims to reduce the incidence of many of these common infections by the end of the decade, as part of a wider public health campaign called The Healthy People 2030.
However, the new findings show that the federal government has made ‘a lack of progress toward foodborne disease reduction goals’, the report states.
The report cautioned, however, that the increase in the number of cases might not be because more people are getting sick each year.
Instead it could be a sign that The Government has gotten better at detecting cases, thanks to scientific advances in monitoring technology.
The new CDC report comes from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, which tests samples from people suspected to have food poisoning to determine the bug they are infected with.
It covers 16 percent of the US population, or roughly 53million people — and integrates ten different states, including Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, California, Colorado, and New York.
The CDC say that the regions included roughly approximates the demographics of the rest of the country.
