Top Five Food Borne Illnesses Caused by Meat, Poultry and Dairy Products

Food borne diseases take a massive toll on the U.S. public, including 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths every year. (Source)  The financial burden of the 10 most expensive pathogens cost the U.S. economy an estimated $8.1 billion.  (Source)  The University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute, which came up with this dollar amount, has also found that the top five most expensive and most detrimental in terms of quality of life come from the meat, poultry, and dairy industries. (Source) The findings at the Emerging Pathogens Institute do not recommend abstaining from or limiting eating these foods, nor does the government food safety site, foodsafety.gov.  However, if you consider the fact that most meat, poultry, dairy, and egg production comes from factories that engage in cruel, polluting, energy intensive, wasteful, unsafe, and unsanitary practices, and take into account that eating these foods cause obesity and a host of other diseases - many of which cause death, and realize that eating these foods are in fact *totally* unnecessary, and that a plant-only based diet can be both delicious, nutritious, and ethical.  But no matter what you consider good to eat, you can stay on the safe side of food borne illnesses by following the recommendations for consumers at the U.S. government website mentioned above.  Happy eating!