Foodborne Illness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 6 Americans (about 48 million people) gets sick from food-related illnesses each year, and that more than 125,000 of those people require hospitalization. Foodborne illness is caused by ingesting or preparing foods and beverages contaminated with disease-causing pathogens. More than 250 different foodborne diseases have been discovered and are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins or chemicals.

Reporting a Foodborne Illness
If you believe that you've become sick while dining in a St. Charles County restaurant or from food products obtained from a St. Charles County food vendor, please call the Division of Environmental Health and Protection at 636-949-1800 or register your complaint online.

Tracking Illness & Preventing the Spread

Staff from St. Charles County's Division of Environmental Health and Protection and Division of Health Services work together with organizations throughout our community to prevent foodborne outbreaks before they occur and to track the sources if cases are discovered. The St. Charles County Food Code outlines food safety procedures that restaurants, grocery stores, temporary food vendors and other entities must follow when providing food services to the public. In addition, health department staff investigates incidents of food contamination to prevent outbreaks. The goals of these investigations are to discover the probable cause of the illness, to minimize further spread of illness from this incident and to provide controls that will prevent recurrence.

Preventing Foodborne Illness

The most important thing you can do to prevent the spread of foodborne illness is to wash your hands and preparation utensils regularly in hot, soapy water. In addition, following the 4 keys to food safety (Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill) will help to prevent contamination. As temperature changes can influence the development of some disease-causing agents, it's very important to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot before, during and after preparation. For more information on Food Safety, please look online.

The Most Common Foodborne Diseases

Raw and undercooked foods, as well as products that have been prepared or stored improperly, are items that are most likely to become contaminated with potentially harmful microbes. Although illnesses can affect different people in different ways, common symptoms of foodborne illnesses are fever, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramping. Most food-related illnesses cause a short-lived discomfort, but some can become life-threatening.

Common Name	Signs & Symptoms	Typical Onset After Ingestion	Duration of Illness	Potential Sources
Botulism	Vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision/double vision, difficulty swallowing, muscle weakness, death	12-72 hours	Varies	Poorly canned vegetables, fermented fish, baked potatoes in aluminum foil
Campylobacteriosis	Diarrhea (may be bloody), cramps, fever and vomiting	2-5 days	2-10 days	Raw and undercooked poultry, unpasteurized milk, contaminated water
Clostridium perfringens	Intense abdominal cramping, watery diarrhea	8-16 hours	Usually 24 hours	Meat, poultry, meat-based gravies, dried or pre-cooked foods, foods improperly prepared
Cryptosporidium	Watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, upset stomach, fever	2-10 days	May continue for several weeks or months	Uncooked food or food contaminated by an ill food handler, contaminated water
E. Coli	Watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting	1-3 days	3-7 days	Water or food contaminated with human feces
Hepatitis A	Diarrhea, dark urine, jaundice, flu-like symptoms, headache	28 days	Varies	Raw produce, contaminated water, food contaminated by an ill food handler, shellfish
Listeriosis	Fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, Pregnant women may experience flu-like symptoms and/or premature delivery or stillbirth	9-48 hours	Varies	Unpasteurized milk, soft cheese made with unpasteurized milk, deli meats
Norovirus	Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, headache	12-48 hours	12-60 hours	Raw produce, contaminated drinking water, uncooked food or cooked food not properly reheated, human interaction/sanitation
Salmonella	Diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting	6-48 hours	4-7 days	Eggs, meats, poultry, unpasteurized milk or juice, cheese made with unpasteurized milk, raw fruits and vegetables
Shigellosis	Abdominal cramps, fever, diarrhea (may be bloody or mucus-like)	4-7 days	24-48 hours	Raw produce, contaminated water, undercooked foods, foods not properly reheated
Staphylococcus Aureus	Sudden onset of severe nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever	1-6 hours	24-48 hours	Unrefrigerated or improperly stored meats, potato / egg salads, cream pastries
Vibriosis	Watery diarrhea (may be bloody), abdominal pain, bloodborne infections, death	4 hours to 7 days	2-8 days	Raw / undercooked shellfish - especially oysters
Yersiniosis	Abdominal pain, diarrhea (may be bloody), fever	4-7 days	1-3 weeks	Raw / undercooked pork products, unpasteurized milk, contaminated water, human interaction/sanitation