# Salmonella risk

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-risk/449658>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 17, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-risk/449658 "2008-05-17T15:20:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Patrick\_Bowman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@Patrick\_Bowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patrick_Bowman)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-risk/449658/1 "2008-05-17T15:20:58Z")

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Imagine this. I walk into a reputable grocery store, buy a boneless chicken breast and eat it immediately … raw.

Question: what are my actual chances of getting salmonella poisoning? If chicken were really as salmonella-ridden as popular lore has it, we should be seeing hundreds of cases daily. Many people don’t cook things thoroughly, many reuse knives or cutting boards, fail to wash their hands after handling chicken, reuse the same dishcloth after wiping up the raw chicken juice, etc.

Or to put the same question in more precise terms: what percentage of chicken breasts in reputable North American grocery stores contain a high enough Salmonella bacillus count to noticeably infect a reasonably healthy man?

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**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-risk/449658/2 "2008-05-17T15:54:48Z")

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[QUOTE=Patrick Bowman]  
If chicken were really as salmonella-ridden as popular lore has it, we should be seeing hundreds of cases daily.  
[/QUOTE]

While you wait for someone who knows the incidence of Salmonella in poultry, I have one comment. The incidence of gastroenteritis due to food borne pathogens is vastly under reported. Most people who have vomiting/diarrhea do not rush to the ER or their physicians. Rather, they let things run their course.  
From:[Ford borne disease website](http://www.ict-science-to-society.org/Pathogenomics/EcoliandSalmonella.htm)

> [@](#):
>
> In the US: Over 40,000 actual cases are reported and confirmed annually in the US. As only about 3% of salmonella cases are officially reported nationwide, and many milder cases are never diagnosed, the true incidence is undoubtedly much higher.

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**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-risk/449658/3 "2008-05-17T15:59:26Z")

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[QUOTE=Patrick Bowman]  
If chicken were really as salmonella-ridden as popular lore has it, we should be seeing hundreds of cases daily.  
[/QUOTE]

I think you’re basing your question on the belief that we aren’t seeing hundreds of infections a day in the US.

When in fact there are on average 110 cases diagnosed per day in the US ~(40,000 per year). That is cases serious enough to warrant medical attention, the undiagnosed minor infections (estimated to be around 1.4million per year) are considerably harder to detect. About 600 deaths occur in the US from salmonellosis per year.[Cite](http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/salmonellosis_gi.html#8).

Obviously, not all these infections are derived from poultry, but as you can see it is alot more common than your OP would suggest.  
ETA: Beaten by **vetbridge**!