Turtles might be cute, but they can also be a nasty pet.

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I’m not talking about the smell, the potential for nasty bites or the general boring-ness of the pet — they have also been linked to over 100 cases of Salmonella in the past 8 months.  We use the turtle outbreaks as a focus for this week’s infosheet, as a reminder to food handlers about the potential for pets to pass on pathogens.

Click here to download the infosheet.

This entry was posted in Food Safety Policy, Salmonella and tagged , by Ben Chapman. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ben Chapman

Dr. Ben Chapman is a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. As a teenager, a Saturday afternoon viewing of the classic cable movie, Outbreak, sparked his interest in pathogens and public health. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, maybe not surprisingly, Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman.