"If you feel a little queasy after last night's dinner out, you're probably not alone."

"About 48 million people a year in the United States come down with food-borne illnesses, and more than half of those illnesses can be traced to food from restaurants, delis, banquet halls and schools, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC experts observed kitchen practices and interviewed managers and workers at several hundred restaurants across nine states, including California. They zeroed in on four major causes of food-borne illness: storage and preparation of ground beef, chicken and leafy greens and the hygiene practices of food workers.

Many of their findings were alarming. Many restaurants did not enforce hand-washing policies for kitchen workers or designate certain cutting boards for raw poultry, they reported. More than half didn't regularly cook with meat thermometers. And a surprising number of workers admitted to coming to work ill, often because they didn't want to risk losing their jobs or leave the restaurant short staffed."

Kathryn Roethel reports for the San Francisco Chronicle December 10, 2013. [2]