Question
Christopher Meunier was one of those kids who never got sick. That is, until November 2008, when he came down with a nasty stomach bug. His doctor was sure Christopher would recover quickly. But the 7-year-old didn’t get better. He got worse—much worse.
The day after Thanksgiving, Christopher’s fever spiked to 103 degrees. He began vomiting black sludge. His bowel movements were watery and full of blood. “It hurts so bad I want to die!” he screamed.
Christopher’s parents rushed him to Vermont Children’s Hospital, where doctors scrambled to try to help. “He had blood and mucus pouring out of his body,” his mom, Gabrielle, later recalled.
Nobody could give him an accurate diagnosis. Did he have a terrible strain of flu? A rare disease? For three days, Christopher’s illness showed no sign of subsiding. His doctors were mystified as to what was wrong. Finally, the answer came. Lab tests showed Christopher had food poisoning. His digestive system was infected with a type of bacteria called Salmonella.
Roughly 2,500 strains of Salmonella exist, and every year, the bacteria sickens an estimated 1.4 million Americans. Most people recover within a week, but some, like Christopher, become gravely ill. In the United States, more than 400 individuals die each year after being infected by Salmonella.
As Christopher’s doctors struggled to save his life, people all over the country were being infected with the same type of Salmonella that was poisoning Christopher.
Clearly, deadly germs were lurking somewhere in our nation’s food supply—but where? And how on Earth did they get there?
Killer Bacteria
Food poisoning has been a problem for humans since our Ice Age ancestors were roasting woolly mammoth chops for dinner. The earliest documented fatality due to foodborne illness is believed to be that of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. Evidence suggests the ancient Greek ruler died of typhoid fever, which is caused by a type of Salmonella. During the American Revolution, hundreds of soldiers died after eating spoiled food.
It wasn’t until 1993, however, that the public became aware of the true dangers of food poisoning. That January, dozens of kids in Washington State were rushed to emergency rooms with severe stomach and kidney problems. Within a week, scientists had traced the outbreak to hamburgers from the fast-food chain Jack in the Box. The burgers were contaminated with the bacteria E. coli, which can be even more toxic than Salmonella. More than 600 people, mainly kids, became seriously ill during the Jack in the Box outbreak. Four died.
The crisis transformed the fast-food business. Jack in the Box, whose executives were horrified by the tragedy, helped lead an effort to make the nation’s beef supply safer.
The government also took notice, tightening food safety laws and setting up a system for tracking outbreaks. In fact, for two weeks before Christopher got sick in 2008, scientists had already been tracing the Salmonella outbreak. They knew a dangerous strain of the bacteria was spreading—they just didn’t know where it was coming from.
Complex Food System
Salmonella is a bacteria that grows on feces. It can contaminate all sorts of foods—anything from chicken to ice cream. In 2024, for example, there were Salmonella outbreaks across the U.S. caused by a number of foods, including tainted eggs, cucumbers, and basil.
You might be wondering how bacteria that grows on feces could end up in your food. Quite easily, it turns out. On a farm, rain might spread cow manure containing Salmonella through a field, contaminating the crops growing there. At a restaurant, a chef with unwashed hands might spread Salmonella to your food.
Because of the complexity of our food system, once a Salmonella outbreak occurs, identifying its source can be dizzyingly difficult. Your dinner last night probably contained ingredients from many different places: ground turkey from California, cheese from Wisconsin, spinach from Mexico. And some of your favorite foods—from snack bars to donuts—have a long list of ingredients that each originate in a different place. If you get food poisoning, it can be tough to find the cause.
That was certainly the case during the 2008 outbreak. Weeks ticked by and more people got sick, yet the source of the Salmonella remained unknown.
In Vermont, Christopher’s mom, Gabrielle, grew increasingly frustrated. She was interviewed by government health agencies. She told each one everything she could recall about what her son had eaten in the days before his illness, but so much time had passed, it was hard to remember. One official hinted that there might be some kind of outbreak, but he couldn’t tell her anything concrete.
No one, it seemed, had answers.
Team Diarrhea
What Gabrielle didn’t know was that 1,000 miles away, in Minnesota, a group of young investigators was on the case. The Salmonella outbreak had spread to their state, and as members of the Minnesota Department of Health, they were determined to solve the mystery. The name of their group? “Team Diarrhea” (or “Team D” for short).
The investigators fanned out across Minnesota, searching for clues. They interviewed victims, asking, “What did you eat? Where did you eat it? Where have you traveled?” Team D worked around the clock, brainstorming theories and sharing results of laboratory tests of suspect foods.
Soon the team discovered an important piece of evidence. Using a process called DNA fingerprinting, a lab determined the poisonings had all been caused by the same type of Salmonella. This meant the victims had likely been infected by the same food. But what was it?
Finally, Team D made a major breakthrough. Thirty victims had been at one of three places. Two of those places were nursing homes. One was a school. And all three had something in common: They served the same brand of peanut butter, King Nut.
A representative from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture was able to secure a jar of King Nut from one of the nursing homes so the peanut butter could be tested for Salmonella. The results came back positive for the bacteria. But there were still questions.
The jar had been partially used before testing, so it was possible a worker at the nursing home had contaminated it. Also, King Nut was sold in only seven states. Like many of the sick people, Christopher had never even tasted it.
So what did King Nut peanut butter have to do with his illness?
Thousands of Foods
The answer would soon emerge.
The investigation eventually led experts to the tiny town of Blakely, Georgia, home of a processing plant owned by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). This is where King Nut peanut butter was made. At the plant, investigators found Salmonella in peanut samples. They also found dead insects near food, leaks in the roof, toxic mold, and other unclean working conditions.
Government officials were horrified to learn that this plant supplied peanut butter and peanut paste to 85 companies in the U.S. and Canada.
Over the next two months, about 4,000 products containing PCA ingredients were removed from store shelves. It was one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history. The list seemed endless: cookies, brownies, donuts, salad dressings, cereals, pet treats. Americans were urged to clear their kitchens of peanuts.
Each week, it seemed, more products were put on the danger list. One of those products was Keebler peanut butter crackers—the same crackers Christopher had eaten the day before he got sick.
By the time the epidemic ended, thousands of Americans had likely been sickened by peanuts processed at that one factory. Nine people died. Christopher was lucky, however. After six days in the hospital, he returned home. Yet his recovery was far from complete. For years, he suffered from debilitating joint pain called reactive arthritis, a side effect of Salmonella poisoning, and his immune system had been severely weakened.
Fierce Advocates
Christopher’s story didn’t end there though. After the outbreak, his mom became a fierce advocate for stronger food safety laws. She testified before Congress about what had happened to her son. She pointed out that emergency rooms were not prepared to diagnose and treat foodborne illnesses. She condemned government agencies that didn’t share information or coordinate efforts.
Thanks to her testimony and the hard work of other victims and health experts, lawmakers took action. In December 2010, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, the first major food safety legislation since the 1930s. It was intended to completely overhaul the system that protects us from dangerous food.
The legislation required more frequent inspections of factories and farms and that foods be labeled so consumers know exactly where ingredients come from. It also mandated that government agencies make it easier to alert people about contaminations and that doctors share information more efficiently.
Increasingly Common
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the law was passed. Unfortunately, food safety experts say it has not been as effective as they had hoped. In part because of funding shortages, the law was slow to take effect and some standards it set have not been enforced. Meanwhile, germs that can cause deadly food poisoning have become increasingly common in our environment. This is partly the result of certain farming practices that are popular in the U.S. As a result, foodborne illness has become more difficult—and expensive—to prevent.
And so, outbreaks of Salmonella and other foodborne illness keep occurring. Just last year, 10 people died and 59 were hospitalized after consuming Boar’s Head deli meat contaminated with a bacteria called Listeria. It was the nation’s deadliest Listeria outbreak in nearly 15 years.
As for Christopher?
Now 24, he recently graduated from college and, inspired by his family’s positive experience advocating for legal change, he is applying to law school. He hopes to one day work in government. “Seeing how the legal process can be used to help people lit a passion in me,” he says. “Politicians can do good.”
To this day, he has a weakened immune system, but he is living life to the fullest. He doesn’t worry much about what he eats. Still, there is one ingredient he has avoided since his life-threatening Salmonella infection: peanut butter.
“I have not eaten it since,” he says.
Which detail from the article best describes the setting of the contamination outbreak?
*
5 points
A. A small farm that sells fresh peanut products
D. A research lab studying foodborne illnesses
B. A large factory where peanut butter is processed
C. A grocery store where peanut butter is sold
The day after Thanksgiving, Christopher’s fever spiked to 103 degrees. He began vomiting black sludge. His bowel movements were watery and full of blood. “It hurts so bad I want to die!” he screamed.
Christopher’s parents rushed him to Vermont Children’s Hospital, where doctors scrambled to try to help. “He had blood and mucus pouring out of his body,” his mom, Gabrielle, later recalled.
Nobody could give him an accurate diagnosis. Did he have a terrible strain of flu? A rare disease? For three days, Christopher’s illness showed no sign of subsiding. His doctors were mystified as to what was wrong. Finally, the answer came. Lab tests showed Christopher had food poisoning. His digestive system was infected with a type of bacteria called Salmonella.
Roughly 2,500 strains of Salmonella exist, and every year, the bacteria sickens an estimated 1.4 million Americans. Most people recover within a week, but some, like Christopher, become gravely ill. In the United States, more than 400 individuals die each year after being infected by Salmonella.
As Christopher’s doctors struggled to save his life, people all over the country were being infected with the same type of Salmonella that was poisoning Christopher.
Clearly, deadly germs were lurking somewhere in our nation’s food supply—but where? And how on Earth did they get there?
Killer Bacteria
Food poisoning has been a problem for humans since our Ice Age ancestors were roasting woolly mammoth chops for dinner. The earliest documented fatality due to foodborne illness is believed to be that of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. Evidence suggests the ancient Greek ruler died of typhoid fever, which is caused by a type of Salmonella. During the American Revolution, hundreds of soldiers died after eating spoiled food.
It wasn’t until 1993, however, that the public became aware of the true dangers of food poisoning. That January, dozens of kids in Washington State were rushed to emergency rooms with severe stomach and kidney problems. Within a week, scientists had traced the outbreak to hamburgers from the fast-food chain Jack in the Box. The burgers were contaminated with the bacteria E. coli, which can be even more toxic than Salmonella. More than 600 people, mainly kids, became seriously ill during the Jack in the Box outbreak. Four died.
The crisis transformed the fast-food business. Jack in the Box, whose executives were horrified by the tragedy, helped lead an effort to make the nation’s beef supply safer.
The government also took notice, tightening food safety laws and setting up a system for tracking outbreaks. In fact, for two weeks before Christopher got sick in 2008, scientists had already been tracing the Salmonella outbreak. They knew a dangerous strain of the bacteria was spreading—they just didn’t know where it was coming from.
Complex Food System
Salmonella is a bacteria that grows on feces. It can contaminate all sorts of foods—anything from chicken to ice cream. In 2024, for example, there were Salmonella outbreaks across the U.S. caused by a number of foods, including tainted eggs, cucumbers, and basil.
You might be wondering how bacteria that grows on feces could end up in your food. Quite easily, it turns out. On a farm, rain might spread cow manure containing Salmonella through a field, contaminating the crops growing there. At a restaurant, a chef with unwashed hands might spread Salmonella to your food.
Because of the complexity of our food system, once a Salmonella outbreak occurs, identifying its source can be dizzyingly difficult. Your dinner last night probably contained ingredients from many different places: ground turkey from California, cheese from Wisconsin, spinach from Mexico. And some of your favorite foods—from snack bars to donuts—have a long list of ingredients that each originate in a different place. If you get food poisoning, it can be tough to find the cause.
That was certainly the case during the 2008 outbreak. Weeks ticked by and more people got sick, yet the source of the Salmonella remained unknown.
In Vermont, Christopher’s mom, Gabrielle, grew increasingly frustrated. She was interviewed by government health agencies. She told each one everything she could recall about what her son had eaten in the days before his illness, but so much time had passed, it was hard to remember. One official hinted that there might be some kind of outbreak, but he couldn’t tell her anything concrete.
No one, it seemed, had answers.
Team Diarrhea
What Gabrielle didn’t know was that 1,000 miles away, in Minnesota, a group of young investigators was on the case. The Salmonella outbreak had spread to their state, and as members of the Minnesota Department of Health, they were determined to solve the mystery. The name of their group? “Team Diarrhea” (or “Team D” for short).
The investigators fanned out across Minnesota, searching for clues. They interviewed victims, asking, “What did you eat? Where did you eat it? Where have you traveled?” Team D worked around the clock, brainstorming theories and sharing results of laboratory tests of suspect foods.
Soon the team discovered an important piece of evidence. Using a process called DNA fingerprinting, a lab determined the poisonings had all been caused by the same type of Salmonella. This meant the victims had likely been infected by the same food. But what was it?
Finally, Team D made a major breakthrough. Thirty victims had been at one of three places. Two of those places were nursing homes. One was a school. And all three had something in common: They served the same brand of peanut butter, King Nut.
A representative from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture was able to secure a jar of King Nut from one of the nursing homes so the peanut butter could be tested for Salmonella. The results came back positive for the bacteria. But there were still questions.
The jar had been partially used before testing, so it was possible a worker at the nursing home had contaminated it. Also, King Nut was sold in only seven states. Like many of the sick people, Christopher had never even tasted it.
So what did King Nut peanut butter have to do with his illness?
Thousands of Foods
The answer would soon emerge.
The investigation eventually led experts to the tiny town of Blakely, Georgia, home of a processing plant owned by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). This is where King Nut peanut butter was made. At the plant, investigators found Salmonella in peanut samples. They also found dead insects near food, leaks in the roof, toxic mold, and other unclean working conditions.
Government officials were horrified to learn that this plant supplied peanut butter and peanut paste to 85 companies in the U.S. and Canada.
Over the next two months, about 4,000 products containing PCA ingredients were removed from store shelves. It was one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history. The list seemed endless: cookies, brownies, donuts, salad dressings, cereals, pet treats. Americans were urged to clear their kitchens of peanuts.
Each week, it seemed, more products were put on the danger list. One of those products was Keebler peanut butter crackers—the same crackers Christopher had eaten the day before he got sick.
By the time the epidemic ended, thousands of Americans had likely been sickened by peanuts processed at that one factory. Nine people died. Christopher was lucky, however. After six days in the hospital, he returned home. Yet his recovery was far from complete. For years, he suffered from debilitating joint pain called reactive arthritis, a side effect of Salmonella poisoning, and his immune system had been severely weakened.
Fierce Advocates
Christopher’s story didn’t end there though. After the outbreak, his mom became a fierce advocate for stronger food safety laws. She testified before Congress about what had happened to her son. She pointed out that emergency rooms were not prepared to diagnose and treat foodborne illnesses. She condemned government agencies that didn’t share information or coordinate efforts.
Thanks to her testimony and the hard work of other victims and health experts, lawmakers took action. In December 2010, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, the first major food safety legislation since the 1930s. It was intended to completely overhaul the system that protects us from dangerous food.
The legislation required more frequent inspections of factories and farms and that foods be labeled so consumers know exactly where ingredients come from. It also mandated that government agencies make it easier to alert people about contaminations and that doctors share information more efficiently.
Increasingly Common
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the law was passed. Unfortunately, food safety experts say it has not been as effective as they had hoped. In part because of funding shortages, the law was slow to take effect and some standards it set have not been enforced. Meanwhile, germs that can cause deadly food poisoning have become increasingly common in our environment. This is partly the result of certain farming practices that are popular in the U.S. As a result, foodborne illness has become more difficult—and expensive—to prevent.
And so, outbreaks of Salmonella and other foodborne illness keep occurring. Just last year, 10 people died and 59 were hospitalized after consuming Boar’s Head deli meat contaminated with a bacteria called Listeria. It was the nation’s deadliest Listeria outbreak in nearly 15 years.
As for Christopher?
Now 24, he recently graduated from college and, inspired by his family’s positive experience advocating for legal change, he is applying to law school. He hopes to one day work in government. “Seeing how the legal process can be used to help people lit a passion in me,” he says. “Politicians can do good.”
To this day, he has a weakened immune system, but he is living life to the fullest. He doesn’t worry much about what he eats. Still, there is one ingredient he has avoided since his life-threatening Salmonella infection: peanut butter.
“I have not eaten it since,” he says.
Which detail from the article best describes the setting of the contamination outbreak?
*
5 points
A. A small farm that sells fresh peanut products
D. A research lab studying foodborne illnesses
B. A large factory where peanut butter is processed
C. A grocery store where peanut butter is sold
Answers
GPT-4o mini
B. A large factory where peanut butter is processed