Ohio State nav bar

Skip to main content

The Ohio State University

  • Help
  • BuckeyeLink
  • Map
  • Find People
  • Webmail
  • Search Ohio State
  • Home
  • Food
  • Family and Relationships
  • Money
  • Mind and Body
  • Webinars
  • Authors

Family and Consumer Sciences

Live Smart Ohio

Ohio State University Extension

Topics:

The Ohio State University
You are here: Home / Food / Is Foodborne Illness on the Rise?

August 27, 2018

Is Foodborne Illness on the Rise?

sliced cantaloupe melonWhen was the last time you heard about a foodborne illness outbreak in the news? So far this year there have been 14 multi-state outbreaks documented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) including the outbreak associated with romaine lettuce that impacted over 200 people in 36 states, and the regional outbreak associated with cut melon that impacted almost 80 people in 9 states. Just last month, an outbreak took place at a Chipotle restaurant in central Ohio that sickened over 600 people. It seems like a week rarely goes by when we are not being cautioned about one potentially contaminated food or another!

Two weeks ago, I was contacted by a TV interviewer while the investigation of the Chipotle outbreak was still ongoing, and he asked me – given the recent incident and what seems to be an uptick in foodborne illness outbreaks – whether customers should be afraid to eat out. The short answer, in my opinion, is no – eating is something we need to do daily, so people need not be afraid to eat or to eat out. However, consumers should use common sense and take steps to keep food safe both when dining out and when preparing food at home.

A man standing behind the counter at a restaurantThe CDC offers four basic steps to follow to keep foods safe: clean, separate, cook and chill. Home cooks should always put these steps into practice when preparing food to eat or serve, and consumers should not be afraid to speak up if they see a violation of one of these steps while eating out. For example, if you are in a restaurant and you see an employee switch between handling food and handling trash or money without washing their hands and/or changing gloves in between tasks, that is a violation that needs to be reported to the restaurant manager. Likewise, if a hot dish that you order does not seem hot enough, or a cold dish does not seem cool enough, don’t be afraid to ask the restaurant staff to check the temperature of the food they are serving.

While foodborne illnesses are serious, they are largely preventable – as long as these four steps are routinely put into practice each time food is prepared and served. Even if foodborne illness does seem to be on the rise, as a recent article from CNN argues, that need not be the case as long as good food safety practices are routinely utilized by all who handle, prepare and serve our food.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

WRITTEN BY: Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension, Franklin County

REVIEWED BY: Amy Meehan, Healthy People Program Specialist, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension

SOURCES:

  • Bosco, T. (2018). Health experts still have no answer as to cause of outbreak at Powell Chipotle. https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/health-experts-still-have-no-answer-as-to-cause-of-outbreak-at-powell-chipotle
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017). Preventing Food Poisoning. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/prevention.html
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Food Safety and Dining Out. https://www.cdc.gov/features/food-dining-safety/index.html
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Four Steps to Food Safety. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/keep-food-safe.html
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). List of Selected Multistate Foodborne Outbreak Investigations. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/multistate-outbreaks/outbreaks-list.html
  • LaVito, A. & Rogers, K. (2018). Chipotle confirms cause of foodborne illness at Ohio restaurant. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/16/chipotle-confirms-cause-of-foodborne-illness-at-ohio-restaurant.html
  • Scutti, S. (2018). Foodborne illness may be on the rise. Here’s why. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/health/food-safety-illness-rise-cdc/index.html

Categories: Food
Tags: food poisoning, food safety, foodborne illness

Avatar for Jennifer Lobb
Avatar for Jennifer Lobb

About Jennifer Lobb

Jenny Lobb, MPH, RD, LD, is the Family and Consumer Sciences Educator for OSU Extension in Franklin County. She specializes in food, nutrition and wellness and likes to teach on topics such as mindfulness, healthy eating and active living. Jenny lives in central Ohio with her husband and son and their two rescue dogs.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

Diabetes Awareness month 2024 3

November Diabetes Awareness Month Webinars

2024 Food Preservation webinar series presented in Summer 2024

Kids Eat Free

Here Comes the Sun, Sun Meals, and Sun Bucks!

winter seed sowing timeline

Winter Sowing

How to Can Tomatoes in a Water Bath Canner

Food Videos

  • Freezing Green Beans
  • Ohio Days – My Plate My State Video
  • Water Bath Canning Of Salsa
  • Water Bath Canning of Sweet Pickles

Follow Us!

  • Facebook

Footer

Need Assistance?

If you are having issues logging into the site, need assistance with updates, or need to request an alternate format please send an email to the EHE Service Desk at servicedesk@ehe.osu.edu stating the nature of your issue and we will assist you. Thank you.
Are you a Live Smart Ohio Author? Log in here!

Categories

  • Food
  • Family and Relationships
  • Money
  • Mind and Body
  • Webinars

Follow us!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
The Ohio State University
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN ECOLOGY
COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

© 2025 Live Smart Ohio - Family and Consumer Sciences | The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology | Accessibility | Privacy Policy

%d