KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffReport: Ten "healthy" foods could make you sick

Report: Ten "healthy" foods could make you sick

By Greg Webb

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KFVS) - Many of the foods that are normally considered good for you have the potential to make you sick, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The consumer watch dog group on Tuesday released the findings of a study titled The Ten Riskiest Foods Regulated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.  The report cites the top ten foods regulated by the FDA that can reportedly be riskiest in terms of food borne illness.

Leafy greens tops the list, accounting for nearly a quarter of illnesses linked to contaminated foods -- more than 13,000 cases since 1990, according to the report. 

"Washing, unfortunately, cannot get everything off, especially on produce," said CSPI Food Safety Attorney Sarah Klein.  "Leafy greens are like ground beef.  If you have one infected, it can spread to the rest of the produce."

Eggs came in second followed by tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese and ice cream.  A scoop of the sweet treat ranked seventh ahead of tomatoes and sprouts.

Berries came in at number 10.

"Our report looked only at FDA-regulated foods, so we eliminated meat and poultry right of the bat," Klein said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur in the U.S. each year including 5,000 deaths. Many more go unreported, leading experts to think the actual total is much higher.

Various CBS reports contributed to this story.

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