The United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world. And yet we often hear about illnesses caused by food. Food can meet up with bacteria anytime and anyplace.
Bacteria exist everywhere and can be quickly moved from one source to another.
Raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs are easy targets, along with berries, lettuce, sprouts, and other produce. Food-borne illness often shows up as a flulike sickness, with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever. It is not unusual for the symptoms to occur 24 hours or longer after eating. One illness that has attracted a great deal of attention lately, Listeria monocytogenes infection, can occur anywhere from 12 hours to 3 weeks after eating contaminated food. To protect food from this danger zone, keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot.