Contagious Conversations

It’s easy to take for granted that the food we eat and the water we drink is safe and healthy.  Several recent high-profile outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, however, are a reminder of how critical food safety is. CDC estimates that nearly 48 million Americans contract a foodborne illness each year. Of those, 128,000 people are hospitalized annually, and 3,000 people die. So, who is tasked with keeping our food and water safe? And what happens when a foodborne outbreak does occur? In this episode, we hear from a food epidemiologist with Minnesota’s department of public health about how foodborne outbreaks are investigated and a personal story from someone who got sick from a foodborne illness. Join us! For more information and full episode transcripts, visit cdcfoundation.org/conversations.   Episode Quotes “It's really a team sport, solving these outbreaks. And if you take out any piece of that team, you're not going to get to the answer.”  -     —Joshua Rounds, MPH, senior epidemiologist in Minnesota