We often think of food poisoning victims as people who spent a pretty bad week within close proximity to a bathroom, but then got past the gastric discomfort and on with their lives. But the truth is that a pathogen like E. coli or Salmonella can cause devastating and long-lasting effects on a body and a life.
Just ask Bonita, an E. coli survivor and single mom whose physical, emotional, and financial well-being is still affected to this day by a tainted spinach salad she ate four years ago.
Said Bonita:
“I have tried to forget about my E. coli experience and move on, but my body and mind remember it daily. I have a sense of vulnerability to food that I assumed was healthy for both my daughter and me. Her health is as important to me as my own, and now I am fearful about routine food choices. I thought I was dying at several points during my illness and this has left me shaken to the core.”
Read Bonita’s full story here – and then take action to improve our food safety system so that we start catching contaminated food before it reaches the mouths of consumers.
Consumers Union is an expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.