The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that 40 percent of food poisoning cases in restaurants in the United States between 2017 and 2019 were caused by sick employees who came into contact with the food.

Norovirus infections – a highly contagious stomach and intestinal virus and salmonella – a bacterium that can appear mainly in chicken products but also in beef, fruits and vegetables as well as unpasteurized dairy products – which can cause serious illnesses, were the most common causes of the almost 800 reported poisonings.

The "New York Times" reported that the data indicates that approximately 48 million people in the United States alone contract food-borne diseases each year, with 3,000 of them not surviving and dying, while 128,000 of them were treated in hospitals.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called for better implementation of the food safety policy, which emphasizes basic required measures such as hand washing and keeping sick workers away from work.

Although 85% of restaurants said they have policies preventing employees from working when they are sick, only about 16% of the procedures are detailed enough to require employees to notify managers that they are staying home if they have one of the main symptoms — vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat or Heat.