What is the most common cause of foodborne illness?
Most foodborne illnesses are caused from foods being temperature abused. Foods must be held cold, below 41°F or hot, above 135°F to help prevent bacterial growth in them. When foods are held for prolonged periods of times between 41°F and 135°F disease causing bacterial can grow to unsafe levels, then when the food is consumed can cause illness. The second most common cause of foodborne illness is sick workers handling food or workers with poor hygienic practices. Sick workers or workers with poor hygiene can contaminate foods with viruses or bacteria. 2. What does the Health Department look for when it conducts an inspection? Health department inspections focus on the factors that have shown to cause most foodborne illnesses-food temperature control, worker hygiene, cross contamination and food protection. Inspectors monitor how quickly hot foods are cooled, how cold foods are reheated, to what temperatures foods are cooked at, what temperatures are refrigerators and to what temperatu
The two most common causes of food borne illness are improper cooling of food product and worker hygiene/health. Improperly cooled foods can cause a food borne illness by allowing bacteria to grow during the cooling phase to a number that will make a person ill. Food workers can pass bacteria and viruses to food through improper hand washing, not washing at appropriate time, or even handling of food product after washing hands correctly (in the case of norovirus). In addition to these two main causes, there are other items that can cause a food borne illness such as: improper cooking temperatures, improper holding temperatures, and cross contamination.
