{"id":468,"date":"2026-07-05T22:16:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=468"},"modified":"2026-07-05T22:16:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:16:40","slug":"which-us-state-is-americas-food-poisoning-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=468","title":{"rendered":"Which US state is \u2018America&#8217;s food poisoning capital\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2F133383191.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Talk about a bad bite.<\/p>\n<p>With millions of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/29\/lifestyle\/the-5-friendliest-u-s-cities-according-to-world-cup-tourists\/\">international visitors to the US for the World Cup<\/a>, on top of the usual domestic travelers, this summer is a busy time for travel and dining out.<\/p>\n<p>Which means, the risk for food poisoning also increases, as one state has unfortunately been crowned with the highest rates of illness ruining vacations.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>With World Cup visitors and peak summer travel, the risk of food poisoning increases, with one state ranking the worst. <span class=\"credit\">Bob \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Using data from the CDC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nors\/about\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Outbreak Reporting System<\/a>, along with public food safety reports, online Canadian gambling site <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.ca\/chances-of-catching-food-poisoning\/?dev=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">casino.ca<\/a> identified US states where food poisoning incidents were the most common.<\/p>\n<p>Analyzing 50 years of official outbreak data, social media complaints and traveler survey responses, food-related illness doesn\u2019t discriminate against West or East Coast, North or South \u2014 but one state certainly rose above the rest.<\/p>\n<p>Famous for farm-to-table restaurants, breweries galore and a big foodie culture, visitors to Oregon may want to bring more than their appetites.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Claiming the title for food poisoning capital of the US, Oregon reported approximately one food-borne illness or incident for every 63 residents, or more than 67,000 food poisoning-related incidents.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being one of the smaller states, Delaware was the second riskiest state, recording more than 11,500 food poisoning reports, one incident for every 88 residents.<\/p>\n<p>There were also more than 350 social media complaints related to food poisoning, with 5% of travelers saying they had a food-related illness while visiting.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Oregon is the food poisoning capital, reporting more than 67,000 incidents, followed by Delaware with more than 11,500. <span class=\"credit\">Graphicroyalty \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And you may want to rethink that Philly cheesesteak during your next trip, as Pennsylvania finished out the top three with one food poisoning case for every 93 residents.<\/p>\n<p>The Keystone State also had the highest recorded illnesses over the last 50 years of any state, with more than 120,000.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Online Canadian gambling site casino.ca identified US states where food poisoning incidents were the most common. <span class=\"credit\">Casino.ca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, 3.4% of the 3,000 travelers also experienced food poisoning while visiting.<\/p>\n<p>Rounding out the top five were Colorado and Nevada, with one food poisoning incident for every 98 residents and one food poisoning incident for every 117 residents, respectively.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>So where should you go for your next trip with the lowest chances of being bedridden?<\/p>\n<p>Pack a parka and head to Alaska, as the northernmost state ranked last with just one food-borne illness for every 3,234 people \u2014 the lowest of any state.<\/p>\n<p>The next safest destinations? Indiana, Utah, Missouri and Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>With a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/03\/business\/americans-hit-the-road-in-record-numbers-for-july-fourth-in-spite-of-pricey-gas\/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=referral\">record number of Americans traveling<\/a> for the holiday weekend \u2014 61.4 million by car alone \u2014 the chances of getting food poisoning on vacation are very possible.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the findings, travelers have a 1 in 319 chance of getting sick from consuming food gone bad.<\/p>\n<p>To avoid illness, <a href=\"https:\/\/wwwnc.cdc.gov\/travel\/page\/food-water-safety\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the CDC recommends<\/a> properly washing hands before prepping food and eating, avoiding lukewarm food and sticking to dry or packaged foods.<\/p>\n<p>Perishable food should also be kept cold, and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/06\/18\/lifestyle\/8-steps-to-avoid-foodborne-illness-at-your-summer-bbq\/\">meat should be cooked to proper internal temperatures<\/a>: raw beef, pork or lamb should be cooked to 160 degrees, and chicken to 165.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Talk about a bad bite. With millions of international visitors to the US for the World Cup, on top of the usual domestic travelers, this summer is a busy time for travel and dining out. Which means, the risk for food poisoning also increases, as one state has unfortunately been crowned with the highest rates&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/133383191.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}