Poultry was the leading culprit in foodborne illness outbreaks reported to the government in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics have been compiled. Counting only the 45% of outbreaks in which a single ingredient was clearly the cause of food poisoning (rather than multiple ingredients, such as chicken salad), poultry accounted for about 17% of cases. Beef was close behind, at 16%, followed by leafy vegetables such as lettuces and spinach, at 14%. Overall, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tallied more than 21,000 illnesses and 18 deaths in 1,100 outbreaks nationwide; thats estimated to be only a fraction of the total cases, however. Chicken, turkey and other poultry also topped the list of singleingredient causes the previous year. About half the 2007 outbreaks were due to salmonella and other bacteria, with 40% from viruses such as norovirus.
