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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Foodborne Illness

Goal: Reduce foodborne illness.

A woman rinses parsley in a colander at her kitchen sink.

About 1 in 6 people in the United States get foodborne illnesses every year.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on preventing foodborne illnesses by improving food safety practices.

Many foodborne illnesses are caused by bacteria, like Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. Each year in the United States, more than 100,000 people go to the hospital and 3,000 people die because of foodborne illnesses.1

But foodborne illnesses are preventable. Interventions in food production, processing, and storage can help prevent food from getting contaminated with bacteria. Teaching people to follow food safety practices when they’re preparing food — like washing hands and surfaces often — can also help prevent foodborne illnesses.

Objective Status

  • 0 Target met or exceeded
  • 2 Improving
  • 2 Little or no detectable change
  • 0 Getting worse
  • 6 Baseline only
  • 11 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Foodborne Illness — General

Prevent an increase in the proportion of nontyphoidal Salmonella infections that are resistant to multiple drug classes — FS‑05
Baseline only
Prevent an increase in the proportion of macrolide antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter infections — FS‑06
Baseline only

Safe Food Handling

Reduce infections caused by Listeria — FS‑03
Improving
Reduce infections caused by Salmonella — FS‑04
Improving
Reduce infections caused by Campylobacter — FS‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli — FS‑02
Little or no detectable change
Increase the proportion of people who wash their hands and surfaces often when preparing food — FS‑07
Baseline only
Increase the proportion of people who use separate cutting boards when preparing food — FS‑08
Baseline only
Increase the proportion of people who cook food to a safe temperature — FS‑09
Baseline only
Increase the proportion of people who refrigerate food within 2 hours after cooking — FS‑10
Baseline only
Reduce outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella infections linked to beef — FS‑D01
Developmental
Reduce outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella infections linked to dairy — FS‑D02
Developmental
Reduce outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella infections linked to fruit and nuts — FS‑D03
Developmental
Reduce outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella infections linked to leafy greens — FS‑D04
Developmental
Reduce outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella infections linked to poultry — FS‑D05
Developmental
Reduce the number of norovirus outbreaks — FS‑D06
Developmental
Reduce the number of food allergy reactions requiring emergency treatment — FS‑D07
Developmental
Increase the proportion of delis where employees wash their hands properly — FS‑D08
Developmental
Increase the proportion of delis where surfaces that touch food are properly cleaned and sanitized — FS‑D09
Developmental
Increase the proportion of delis where foods are refrigerated at a safe temperature — FS‑D10
Developmental
Increase the proportion of delis where hot foods are kept at a safe temperature — FS‑D11
Developmental

Other topics you may be interested in

References

1.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Oct. 2019). Foodborne Germs and Illness. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/foodborne-germs.html