Foodborne illness
Bacteria

Bacteria are a common cause of foodborne illness. In 2000, the United Kingdom reported the individual bacteria involved as the following: Campylobacter jejuni 77.3%, Salmonella 20.9%, Escherichia coli O157:H7 1.4%, and all others less than 0.56%.

In the past, bacterial infections were thought to be more prevalent because few places had the capability to test for norovirus and no active surveillance was being done for this particular agent. Toxins from bacterial infections are delayed because the bacteria need time to multiply. As a result, symptoms associated with intoxication are usually not seen until 12–72 hours or more after eating contaminated food. However, in some cases, such as Staphylococcal food poisoning, the onset of illness can be as soon as 30 minutes after ingesting contaminated food.

A 2022 study concluded that washing uncooked chicken could increase the risk of pathogen transfer, and that specific washing conditions can decrease the risk of transfer.

Most common bacterial foodborne pathogens are:

Other common bacterial foodborne pathogens are:

Less common bacterial agents:
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