Each year, millions of people become sick due to foodborne illnesses. The most common reported causes of foodborne illnesses are:

• Failure to cool foods properly.
• Failure to cook and hold foods at the proper temperature.
• Poor personal hygiene.

Foodborne-illness outbreaks can cost an establishment thousands of dollars. It can even cause an establishment to close.

Unsafe food usually results from contamination, which is the presence fo harmful substances not originally present in the food. Some food-safety hazards are introduced by humans or by the environment, and some occur naturally.

Biological hazards pose the greatest threat to food safety. Disease-causing microorganisms are responsible for the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks. Proper employee training can prevent or reduce the risk of spreading foodborne illnesses.