There is so much to food safety that I thought this time of year would be a great time to update everyone on the risk associated with food borne illness. During these holidays, we are exposed to so much more food than any other time of the year making it even more difficult than ever to trace outbreaks beyond historical one forward one back tracking.

So here goes, foodborne illness which can also be called food poisoning is any illness that results from eating contaminated food regardless of how it was contaminated. Harmful bacteria are the most common cause of food poisoning, but other causes include viruses, parasites, toxins and contaminants. The bacteria and viruses most frequently associated with food poisoning cases in the United States are Salmonella, Botulism, Norovirus,Vibrio Infections, Listeria, Hepatitis A, B.cereus, E.coli and Campylobacter.

A couple of great places to keep track of alerts and other up to date information is FoodSafety.gov? and USFOODSAFETY.COM. You can also visit the SafeSourcing wiki and our website www.safesourcing.com where alerts are covered from over a dozen organizations including other types of product safety. All of the above can be followed on Twitter.

President Obama said it best ?There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat are safe and do not cause us harm.?

With a community of help we can all make the government?s job easier.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.