The foodborne illness data gathered by authorities are skewed by many factors including whether labs routinely test for the pathogens, whether pathogens are detected and whether in fact confirmed disease cases are reported. Indeed, foodborne illness is known to be underreported by 2 to 20 times reported figures. 61 Children, the elderly, and the immune impaired, including pregnant women, are the most vulnerable to foodborne illness. Therefore, these groups should be particularly careful about what foods they eat. The list of potential foodborne illnesses is extremely long.
Botulism can result in paralysis leading to respiratory arrest.
Symptoms in adults occur within 12-36 hours and sometimes days, following ingestion of contaminated foods. Because of the risks to children, the CDC recommends that children under the age of 1 not be fed honey. Campylobacter is a bacteria particularly common in birds and poultry, including chicken and turkey. Symptoms in adults occur usually within 2-5 days of ingestion with a range of 1 to 10 days. Cryptosporidium is a parasite.