ABSTRACT
Staphylococcal food poisoning is one of the most common types of foodborne disease and probably occurs in every country of the world, although records of the milder foodborne diseases are not kept in most countries. The detection of enterotoxin in a food implicated in food poisoning is acceptable proof of staphylococcal food poisoning. Milk is rarely involved in staphylococcal food poisoning in the United States, however, the outbreak from chocolate milk among school children in Kentucky in 1985 was exceptional. An estimated 300 out of 850 children who had participated in an Easter egg hunt in California became ill with staphylococcal food poisoning. Staphylococcal food poisoning results from enterotoxigenic staphylococci growing and producing enterotoxin in foods. The only satisfactory control of staphylococcal food poisoning is refrigeration of susceptible foods except when they are being prepared and during serving. One method for preventing staphylococcal food-poisoning outbreaks is to prohibit food handlers with infections from handling foods.
