It’s easy to take for granted that the food we eat and the water we drink is safe and healthy. Several recent high-profile outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, however, are a reminder of how critical food safety is.

CDC estimates that nearly 48 million Americans contract a foodborne illness each year. Of those, 128,000 people are hospitalized annually, and 3,000 people die. So, who is tasked with keeping our food and water safe? And what happens when a foodborne outbreak does occur? In this episode, we hear from a food epidemiologist with Minnesota’s department of public health about how foodborne outbreaks are investigated and a personal story from someone who got sick from a foodborne illness. Join us!

For more information and full episode transcripts, visit cdcfoundation.org/conversations.

Episode Quotes

“It's really a team sport, solving these outbreaks. And if you take out any piece of that team, you're not going to get to the answer.”

- —Joshua Rounds, MPH, senior epidemiologist in Minnesota Department of Health Foodborne Diseases Unit

“I was incredibly impressed with the level of care and the systems that were in place to obviously solve the mystery, beginning with the hospital who made the report and the sending off my samples and so forth. I didn't realize that was happening behind the scenes.”

- —Cindy Ligon, artist

Episode Credits

Claire Stinson: Host

Maya Kroth: Producer

David Snyder: Editor

Emily Bucherati: Graphics and web design

Erin Norvell: Social media

Katie Johnstone: Social media

Thanks to Our Guests

Joshua Rounds, MPH, senior epidemiologist in Minnesota Department of Health Foodborne Diseases Unit

Cindy Ligon, artist

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