When a foodborne illness outbreak hits, it’s no longer a whisper in a hospital room or a quiet report buried on a health department website. It’s a viral thread on Twitter, a Reddit post with hundreds of comments, or a TikTok viewed by millions. In today’s world, social media has become one of the fastest ways to spread news about contaminated food—and one of the most unpredictable.

For better or worse, the internet has turned consumers into investigators. Every day, people share stories of severe stomach illness after eating certain meals or buying specific brands. And while that awareness helps uncover real outbreaks faster than ever before, it also blurs the line between truth and speculation.

The Rise of Digital Outbreak Detection

The idea that your phone could help detect an outbre

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