"While the food supply in the United States is one of the safest in the world, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 Americans die each year from foodborne illness.

Foodborne illnesses can be prevented, as a nation we should ask ourselves what may be causing these illnesses to happen? Safe food handling practices are an important factor in keeping commercial food products outside the range of unnecessary contamination.

So, my questin is, what would make a store thwart opportunities to take simple safety steps? People put their health, and the health of their families, into the hands of stewards who seem to be falling down on the job...at least at one Bi-Lo store in Rossville, Georgia.

My personal experience with its apathy and money-saving choices appear to be just the kind of problems that allow food contamination to continue. What would it take to get this store to keep a cleaner kitchen?

Read my blog. PHOTO GAG WARNING! http://bellwork-inprogress.blogspot.com/2013/05/death-by-deli-peek-behind-counter.html.

Nancy J. Bell, MHA, Ph.D. ABD
Public Health