Food-borne illnesses make 1 in 6 Americans ill each year, CDC says

Food-borne illnesses: how prevalent are they? Roughly 48 million Americans – or 1 in 6 – get sick and about 3,000 die from some type of food-borne illness each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Reports published Wednesday in Emerging Infectious Diseases also provide a picture of which pathogens cause the most illnesses. Salmonella tops the list for hospitalizations and deaths. Read the CDC reports here for the full list of pathogens.

Many recent food recalls can be blamed on salmonella and other pathogens, most notably the egg scare that recalled millions of eggs nationwide in August. But here are steps you can take to protect your food from getting infected.

And here’s what FoodSafety.gov says in playing it safe when it comes to daily products.