Most restaurants share food suppliers who bring their “fresh food” in by truck. It makes it really hard to assume that one restaurant is responsible, unless there’s something real specific and unsanitary in their cleanliness or food prep, or a lot of people eating there got sick at the same time.
E. coli Food Poisoning Cases Drop
April 29, 2004 — Just in time for picnic season, the CDC has some good news about some of the most dangerous threats to food safety.
A new report shows cases of E. coli O157:H7 infections, one of the most severe food-borne illnesses, dropped by 36% from 2002 to 2003. Most illnesses caused by E. coli infections are the result of eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef.
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Researchers say an estimated 76 million people contract food-borne and other diarrheal illnesses each year.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20040429/e-coli-food-poisoning
[Note how 76 million people contract a food-borne illness each year out of a 2004 population of almost 300 million people. That is about a one in four or one in three chance of being one of the people to contract a food-borne illness each year.]