Carol Kinney FDSC 1010Grade Replacement AssignmentFoodborne Illness OutbreakAn outbreak of Salmonella Mbandaka illnesses occurred in many states on May 17, 2018.Salmonella Mbandaka is a bacterium that causes food poisoning. Many symptoms include diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps and this illness can last from 4 to 7 days. 135 people were infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Mbandaka and was reported from 36 different states. 34 were hospitalized but luckily no deaths were reported. FDA and CDC worked together to figure out what was causing this outbreak. To identify what was causing this outbreak, FDA and CDC conducted interviews with ill people. After the interviews they identified that Kellogg’sHoney Smacks cereal was a possible source of the outbreak. They determined this through the interviews because 63 of the 84 people they interviewed reported eating Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. To ensure this theory, health officials in several states collected Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal from retail locations. Laboratory testing identified the outbreak of Salmonella Mbandaka in a sample of unopened Kellogg’s Honey Smack cereal. These results proved more evidence that the outbreak is from Kellogg’s cereal. Therefore, on June 14, 2018, the Kellogg Company recalled all of Honey Smacks cereal that were on the market. The FDA had advised consumers to not eat and discard recalled Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. And if the product is still out there, one needs to throw it away or return it and get refund. This could have been prevented if the food service operators had practiced safe food handling and preparation measures. This may include washing hands, sanitize display cases, and wash and sanitizesurfaces or utensils used to prepare, serve, and store food. Overall, we need to be more careful with food handling and preparation measures. We all can help out by just washing our hands and even the consumers can do the same.