Here are guides – especially for parents – of the four food borne pathogens I see most frequently.
E. coli
E. coli are bacteria that can cause serious, sometimes fatal, infections in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that E. coli causes 2,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year.Ten percent of E. coli victims develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause kidney failure, damage to the central nervous system, and ultimately death.
Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/ecoliBrochure.pdf
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is one of five human hepatitis viruses (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E) that primarily infect the liver and cause illness. It is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person-to-person through fecal-oral contact, often from an infected food handler contaminating food.
Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/hepatitisBrochure.pdf
Listeria
Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) is a foodborne disease-causing bacteria; the disease caused by the ingestion of Listeria bacteria is called listeriosis. Listeria can invade the body through a normal and intact gastrointestinal track. Once in the body, Listeria can travel through the blood stream; it invades and grows best in the central nervous system among immune compromised persons, causing meningitis and/or encephalitis (brain infection). In pregnant women, the fetus can become infected with Listeria, leading to spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, or sepsis (blood infection) in infancy.
Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/ListeriaFINALbrochure.pdf
Salmonella
Salmonella is one of the most common intestinal infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common foodborne illness. Salmonella infection occurs when the bacteria are ingested, typically from food derived from infected food-animals, but it can also occur by ingesting the feces of an infected animal or person. Food sources include raw or undercooked eggs/egg products, raw milk or raw milk products, contaminated water, meat and meat products, and poultry. Raw fruits and vegetables contaminated during slicing have been implicated in several Salmonella outbreaks.
Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/salmonella_brochure.pdf