The food supply in the United States is among the safest in the world. However, when certain disease-causing bacteria or pathogens contaminate food, they can cause foodborne illness, often called “food poisoning.” The CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 out of 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.

Everyone is at risk, although most healthy people will recover from a foodborne illness within a short period of time, some can develop chronic, severe, or even life-threatening health problems. In addition, some people are at a higher risk for developing foodborne illness, including pregnant women, children under 5, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems (such as transplant patients and individuals with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or diabetes). People at a higher risk for foodborne illness should take extra precautions. For more information on this, select the high-risk population above you are interested in learning more about.  ​

The first step to protect you and your loved ones against foodborne illness is education. An informed consumer is a safe consumer.

Know what you are consuming

NCHD inspects all retail food establishments in Logan, Morgan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Yuma, and Washington counties and provides Restaurant Inspection Reports for public access. To look up any inspection report click the button below for the definitions and reports. If you have a food safety concern about an establishment, a complaint can be submitted to NCHD using the form linked in the button below.

Keep yourself informed of current recalls. All recalls are posted on the FDA webpage Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts.

If you have any issues with our forms or completing them, please contact Mel Bustos, (970) 867-4918 ext. 2262, or by email melb@nchd.org

Cottage Foods Act

The Colorado Cottage Foods Act allows limited types of food products that do not require refrigeration for safety to be sold directly to consumers without licensing or inspections. If you are interested in selling or buying food items made in a home kitchen, all eligible foods, rules, and regulations can be found here.

If you have a question or a concern about cottage food items, you may contact CDPHE via phone at (303) 692-3645, option 2 or via email at cdphe_mfgfd@state.co.us

Know the Symptoms of Foodborne Illness

Consuming dangerous foodborne bacteria will usually cause illness within 1 to 3 days of eating the contaminated food. However, sickness can also occur within 20 minutes or up to 6 weeks later!

Symptoms of foodborne illness can include vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain – and flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, and body ache. Additional information can be found on the CDC webpage About Food Safety.