Yes, facultative anaerobes can absolutely grow without oxygen. That is the defining trait of this group: they are flexible enough to survive and multiply whether oxygen is present or not. Without oxygen, they switch to fermentation or anaerobic respiration depending on what alternative electron acceptors are available. Growth is usually slower without oxygen, but it happens, and for some well-known pathogens like Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, it happens readily enough to cause real food safety problems.
Can Facultative Anaerobes Grow Without Oxygen? How and Why
Marcus Reeves
14 May 2026
What "facultative anaerobe" actually means
The word "facultative" essentially means optional. A facultative anaerobe can use oxygen when it is available, but it is not dependent on it. That puts it squarely in the middle of the oxygen-requirement spectrum.
Here is how the main categories compare:
| Category | Needs oxygen? | Can grow without oxygen? | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obligate aerobe | Yes, required | No | Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium tuberculosis |
| Facultative anaerobe | No, but preferred by most | Yes | E. coli, S. aureus, Listeria monocytogenes |
| Microaerophile | Yes, but only at low levels | No (high O2 is toxic) | Campylobacter jejuni, Helicobacter pylori |
| Obligate anaerobe | No, toxic to most | Yes, required | Clostridium botulinum, Bacteroides fragilis |
The key distinction from obligate anaerobes is that facultative anaerobes are not harmed by oxygen exposure. They just shift their metabolism based on what is available. From a food safety standpoint, this flexibility is what makes them such persistent hazards: reducing oxygen in packaging does not stop them the way it would stop an obligate aerobe.
Yes, they grow without oxygen, here is how
When oxygen disappears, facultative anaerobes do not simply shut down. They activate alternative metabolic pathways, and the specific pathway used depends on what other molecules are available in the environment. In other words, the right electron acceptors can let intestinal bacteria keep respiring and growing even when oxygen is absent intestinal bacteria can grow in the presence of.
Anaerobic respiration (when alternative electron acceptors are present)
If nitrate, nitrite, fumarate, or other electron acceptors are present in the environment, many facultative anaerobes will use them as substitutes for oxygen in their electron transport chain. For example, many facultative anaerobes can grow anaerobically using nitrate as a substitute for oxygen grow without oxygen. E. coli, for example, carries nitrate reductases and fumarate reductase enzymes specifically for this purpose. Nitrate has a high reduction potential, making it a particularly good substitute, and E. coli will preferentially reduce nitrate to nitrite, then continue processing nitrite further. Fumarate respiration (converting fumarate to succinate) is another route, and in E. coli it is switched on by an oxygen-sensing regulatory protein called Fnr when oxygen drops. S. aureus follows the same general logic: it can grow anaerobically using nitrate respiration or fermentation depending on conditions. Obligate anaerobes can grow in the absence of oxygen, but they are distinct from facultative anaerobes that keep growing even when oxygen is present.
Fermentation (when no alternative acceptors exist)
When there is no oxygen and no suitable alternative electron acceptor, facultative anaerobes fall back on fermentation. E. coli, for instance, produces a mixture of end products in this state: ethanol, acetate, lactate, succinate, formate, and CO2, with the exact blend influenced by the oxidation-reduction potential of the environment. S. aureus does the same under purely anaerobic conditions, though its glucose consumption slows noticeably: studies show glucose depletion takes around 8 hours under aerobic conditions versus around 24 hours anaerobically. That slowdown matters for food safety timelines.
How growth changes with and without oxygen
The practical takeaway is that most facultative anaerobes grow faster and more efficiently with oxygen, because aerobic respiration extracts far more energy from the same substrate than fermentation does. But "slower without oxygen" does not mean "stopped. This is closely related to whether they can aerobic bacteria grow in the absence of o2, because many facultative anaerobes keep growing even when oxygen is removed. " Depending on temperature, pH, water activity, and available nutrients, anaerobic growth can still reach dangerous levels.
The metabolic outputs also shift. Under aerobic conditions, carbon is mostly oxidized to CO2 and water. Under anaerobic conditions, you get a range of organic acids, alcohols, and gases instead. This is why vacuum-packaged or modified-atmosphere foods can develop off-odors even when temperature control is good: it is the signature of anaerobic metabolism, not necessarily a sign of safety problems, but it is a useful indicator that something biological is happening.
One thing worth noting: a handful of facultative anaerobes grow at roughly similar rates with or without oxygen under certain substrate and temperature conditions. Do not assume oxygen removal reliably slows all facultative species equally. Growth rate differences are species-specific and condition-dependent.
How to confirm oxygen-free growth in the lab
If you need to verify whether an isolate is a facultative anaerobe, or confirm that growth is actually occurring under anoxic conditions, there are a few reliable approaches used in standard microbiology practice.
Thioglycollate broth with resazurin
Fluid thioglycollate medium is the workhorse for classifying oxygen requirements. The medium contains cystine and sodium thioglycollate, which maintain a low oxidation-reduction potential and create an oxygen gradient from the surface down. Resazurin is included as a colorimetric oxygen indicator: it turns pink or red when oxidized (oxygen present) and becomes colorless when reduced (anoxic). Inoculate the tube by stabbing to the bottom, incubate, and then read growth distribution. A facultative anaerobe will grow throughout the tube, including the anaerobic bottom portion. Compare this pattern against a known obligate aerobe (grows only at the surface) and an obligate anaerobe (grows only at the bottom, away from oxygen).
Anaerobic jars and chambers
For plate-based confirmation, use a GasPak anaerobic jar or a dedicated anaerobic chamber. Plate your organism on appropriate solid media, place it in the jar with a GasPak hydrogen-plus-CO2 generator sachet (which catalytically removes oxygen), and incubate alongside an aerobic control plate in ambient air. If colonies appear on both the aerobic and anaerobic plates, you have a facultative anaerobe or obligate anaerobe on your hands. A candle jar (roughly 2-3% O2, elevated CO2) works for microaerophiles and can serve as a useful intermediate control. Include resazurin-based anaerobic indicators in the jar to confirm oxygen was actually removed before drawing conclusions.
Media supplementation to distinguish respiration from fermentation
If you want to go further and determine whether the organism is using anaerobic respiration or pure fermentation, add defined electron acceptors to the medium. Supplement one set of anaerobic cultures with nitrate (10 mM is a common starting concentration) and another with fumarate, and compare growth rates and end-product profiles (via HPLC or enzymatic assays) against a no-acceptor control. Higher growth yields in the supplemented cultures indicate anaerobic respiration capacity. Detection of ethanol and lactate as dominant products in the unsupplemented cultures points toward fermentation. This approach directly mirrors what researchers have done to characterize E. coli and S. aureus anaerobic physiology.
Interpreting your results
- Growth in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions: facultative anaerobe (or obligate anaerobe if it fails the aerobic plate).
- Growth only aerobically: obligate aerobe.
- Growth only anaerobically: obligate anaerobe.
- Growth in thioglycollate only near the top: aerobe or microaerophile.
- Growth throughout thioglycollate tube with heaviest density at the surface: classic facultative anaerobe pattern.
What this means for food safety and storage
This is where the science becomes directly actionable. Many of the pathogens that concern food safety professionals most, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, S. aureus, Salmonella, are facultative anaerobes. Reducing oxygen through vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) does not eliminate the risk from these organisms. That is why facultative anaerobes can still pose risks in low-oxygen foods where some microbes cannot grow it does not stop it. It can slow their growth, but it does not stop it.
Vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging: what the research shows
Studies on beef, chicken, and ready-to-eat meats consistently show that L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 can survive and grow in vacuum-packaged and low-oxygen MAP products, particularly under temperature abuse. A 75% CO2/25% N2 anaerobic atmosphere suppressed both aerobic plate counts and L. monocytogenes growth on raw chicken in one study, but that extreme CO2 concentration is not typical of commercial packaging. More common MAP formulations (such as 40% CO2/30% O2/30% N2 or simple vacuum bags) show limited suppression of L. monocytogenes compared with aerobic storage, and sometimes vacuum packaging actually produced a shorter lag phase for psychrotrophic bacteria compared with CO2/N2 MAP conditions.
For ground beef, research comparing vacuum bags against low-oxygen CO2/N2 formulations found that certain low-oxygen packaging types were associated with less E. coli O157:H7 growth under temperature abuse, but none of the packaging types eliminated the hazard. The controlling variable is almost always temperature, not oxygen level alone.
Practical guidance for food professionals
- Treat reduced-oxygen packaging as a shelf-life and quality tool, not a pathogen kill step. It changes growth dynamics but does not make products microbiologically safe on its own.
- Temperature control remains the primary critical control point for facultative anaerobes in low-oxygen packaged foods. Keeping products at or below 4°C (39°F) is the most reliable way to slow growth.
- If your operation uses reduced oxygen packaging for temperature-controlled-for-safety (TCS) foods, FDA Food Code and state regulations (such as WAC 246-215-03540 in Washington) require a written HACCP plan that accounts for pathogens relevant to the packaging format, including L. monocytogenes and C. botulinum.
- Do not rely on sensory evaluation alone for safety decisions. Facultative anaerobes can multiply in vacuum-packaged products without obvious odor or color changes, especially at refrigeration temperatures.
- If aerobic plate counts are low in a modified atmosphere product, that does not mean the product is pathogen-free. Obligate aerobes are suppressed, but facultative anaerobes are not.
- For products where nitrate or nitrite is present (cured meats, some brined vegetables), be aware that these compounds can actually serve as electron acceptors supporting anaerobic respiration by organisms like E. coli and S. aureus, rather than simply acting as preservatives.
The broader context: oxygen is one lever among many
Oxygen availability interacts with temperature, pH, water activity, and competing microflora to determine whether facultative anaerobes actually become a problem in a specific food environment. A vacuum-packaged product at 2°C with a water activity of 0.93 and a pH of 5.2 is in a very different risk category than the same product at 10°C with a neutral pH. Oxygen removal shifts the ecological balance (suppressing obligate aerobes and giving facultative species less competition in some cases) but it does not substitute for the other hurdles. Understanding that facultative anaerobes do not need oxygen is the foundation for building a complete picture of where microbial risks actually live in your product or process.
FAQ
If a food is vacuum-packaged, does that mean facultative anaerobes can’t grow?
No. Vacuum or low-oxygen atmospheres often reduce growth rate, but facultative anaerobes can still switch to fermentation or anaerobic respiration using alternative acceptors. Temperature control is usually the dominant factor for whether they reach dangerous levels.
Why do facultative anaerobes still grow in low-oxygen foods even if oxygen is removed at packaging?
Because oxygen can be depleted but not necessarily absent, and because many strains can use substitutes like nitrate, fumarate, or other compounds present in tissues. If no alternative acceptors are available, they can still grow more slowly via fermentation.
Can facultative anaerobes grow without any oxygen at all, even in sealed containers?
They can, provided the environment supports their anaerobic metabolism. However, “no oxygen” depends on the real atmosphere and the food’s redox conditions, so measuring redox indicators or using appropriate anaerobic culturing controls is the practical way to confirm.
Are facultative anaerobes always slower without oxygen, or are there cases where growth looks similar?
There are exceptions. The article notes some species can show comparable growth with and without oxygen under particular substrate and temperature conditions. That’s why you should not assume oxygen removal will uniformly slow every facultative anaerobe.
Does low oxygen always prevent food spoilage bacteria from taking over?
Not necessarily. Removing oxygen can suppress some competitors, and it can shift metabolism toward organic acids, alcohols, and gases that still cause quality issues such as off-odors. Spoilage outcomes can change even if total counts change only modestly.
How can I tell whether growth under low oxygen is aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration, or fermentation?
A practical lab approach is to compare anaerobic cultures with added electron acceptors (for example nitrate or fumarate) versus a no-acceptor control. Higher growth yield with acceptors suggests respiration, while dominant acid or alcohol products in the no-acceptor condition point toward fermentation.
What’s a common mistake when testing oxygen requirements of an unknown isolate?
Assuming “anaerobic” means you forgot to include oxygen indicators, or relying on packaging conditions rather than confirming oxygen removal. Resazurin-based indicators and proper aerobic controls help you avoid false conclusions.
If I see colonies in both aerobic and anaerobic culture conditions, does that prove it’s facultative?
It strongly suggests facultative behavior, but verify with the intended oxygen gradient method (such as thioglycollate with an indicator) and correct incubation setup. Some organisms can tolerate low oxygen or show delayed surface growth that can confuse interpretations.
In real foods, what matters more than oxygen level for growth of facultative anaerobes?
Temperature typically dominates, with pH, water activity, available nutrients, and the competing microbial community also shaping the outcome. Oxygen reduction can help, but it rarely replaces a proper temperature-based control plan.
Can packaging atmosphere composition (CO2/N2 vs just “low O2”) change how fast facultative anaerobes grow?
Yes. Even when oxygen is low, carbon dioxide level and gas mix can affect lag time, metabolic activity, and which organisms outcompete others. The article’s examples show that some low-oxygen formulations suppress certain pathogens less than expected, and that temperature abuse can override atmosphere effects.
Citations
Merck Manual defines **facultative** organisms as those that **grow aerobically or anaerobically in the presence or absence of oxygen**; it contrasts this with **obligate anaerobes** (incapable of aerobic metabolism) and notes obligate anaerobes can tolerate oxygen only for limited periods in some contexts.
https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/infectious-diseases/anaerobic-bacteria/overview-of-anaerobic-bacteria?query=Overview+of+Infectious+Disease
OpenStax/LibreTexts summarizes oxygen requirements: **facultative anaerobes show better growth in the presence of oxygen but will also grow without it**.
https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Book%3A_Microbiology_%28OpenStax%29/09%3A_Microbial_Growth/9.2%3A_Oxygen_Requirements_for_Microbial_Growth
NCBI Bookshelf (Microaerobic Physiology chapter) notes that in facultative anaerobes, pathways such as **fumarate respiration** can be **induced by low oxygen tensions**, and for *E. coli* this induction is mediated by regulators including **Fnr** (global regulator).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2411/
UCLA Microbe Scholar describes that, as an example of facultative anaerobe anaerobic respiration, organisms like *E. coli* have respiratory capacities such as **nitrate reductases** (nitrate → nitrite steps) and **fumarate reductase** (fumarate → succinate).
https://www.mimg.ucla.edu/the-microbe/anaerobic-respiration/
LibreTexts explains that in anaerobic respiration, **denitrification uses nitrate (NO3−) as a terminal electron acceptor**; it also notes many facultative anaerobes use denitrification because **nitrate has a high reduction potential**.
https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Microbiology_%28Boundless%29/05%253A_Microbial_Metabolism/5.09%253A_Anaerobic_Respiration/5.9B%253A_Nitrate_Reduction_and_Denitrification
A classic review (FEMS Microbiology Reviews) states that **under anaerobic conditions and in the absence of alternative electron acceptors**, *Escherichia coli* performs **fermentation**, producing a **mixture of products** (including **ethanol, acetate, lactate, succinate** and related products depending on conditions).
https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/5/3/223/563230
A ScienceDirect study on anaerobic *E. coli* on glycerol notes that anaerobic growth can use **external electron acceptors added to the medium (e.g., fumarate or nitrate)** to enable anaerobic respiration (contrasted with conditions where fermentation dominates).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096717622000702
NCBI Bookshelf indicates that **fumarate respiration** is an important energy transduction pathway under low oxygen tensions in facultative anaerobes, with induction tied to oxygen sensing (e.g., *E. coli* via **Fnr**).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2411/
The same ScienceDirect source frames the practical tradeoff: alternative acceptors (e.g., **fumarate or nitrate**) can support anaerobic respiration, but may be costly and can lead to **undesired product formation** depending on conditions.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096717622000702
RSC Analyst paper: under **absence of oxygen**, *E. coli* can utilize alternative terminal electron acceptors for anaerobic growth including **nitrate (NO3−) and nitrite (NO2−)**; it reports time-dependent reduction phases (NO3− reduction → NO2− reduction → NO2− depletion) and associated metabolic outputs (e.g., acetate, ethanol, NH4+ and N2O species).
https://www.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2021/an/d1an01261d
*Staphylococcus aureus* (facultative aerobe) has transcriptomic/proteomic work on oxygen switch: it is described as able to grow without oxygen via **fermentation or using an alternative terminal electron acceptor such as nitrate**.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC95576/
S. aureus oxygen response: the paper notes *S. aureus* can grow under low-oxygen by **fermentation or nitrate respiration** and provides a specific observation that **glucose depletion took 8 h under aerobic conditions vs 24 h under anaerobic conditions**; it also reports that anaerobic nitrate-respiring wild-type showed additional **acetate secretion** compared with non-respiring context.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2583599/
A study on manipulating *E. coli* respiratory levels describes that engineered *E. coli* strains can show altered metabolite usage patterns; it reports that some strains did **not metabolize acetate or ethanol until the end of cultures**, illustrating how oxygen/respiratory capacity changes carbon end-product trajectories.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3210874/
PubMed-indexed study in anoxic *E. coli* chemostat cultures reports that under anoxic conditions the strain produced a spectrum of products whose composition depended on **oxidation-reduction potential (ORP)**, including **formate, acetate, ethanol, lactate, succinate, and CO2**.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10633094/
NCBI Bookshelf: in facultative anaerobes under low oxygen tensions, alternative respiratory pathways such as **fumarate respiration** are induced; this supports the mechanistic basis for changed growth/metabolism when oxygen is absent.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2411/
LibreTexts lab content explains a practical oxygen-dependence classification approach using **thioglycollate broth** and an indicator (**resazurin**): it instructs inoculation into thioglycollate broth (to the bottom) and compares setups including a **candle jar**, **ambient air**, and **GasPak anaerobic jar** to distinguish oxygen requirements.
https://bio.libretexts.org/Labs/Microbiology_Labs_I/06%3A_Oxygen_Requirements_and_Anaerobes
DSMZ cultivation hints for anaerobes state that **resazurin** is a commonly used redox indicator effective at low concentrations; it also notes thioglycollate’s reducing role and that media must be sufficiently reduced/anoxic to support strict anaerobes (important when distinguishing oxygen dependence).
https://www.dsmz.de/docs/cultivation/anaerobes
University of Wisconsin instructional material (culture media explanations) states that in fluid thioglycollate medium, **cystine and sodium thioglycollate** maintain a **low oxidation-reduction potential**, and that **resazurin is used as an oxygen indicator** (pink/red oxidized vs colorless when reduced).
https://instruction.bact.wisc.edu/book/displayarticle?aid=280
FDA Food Code (Reduced Oxygen Packaging sections) addresses regulatory controls for reduced-oxygen packaging, including vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging, and emphasizes oxygen reduction in packaged products and related HACCP requirements.
https://www.fda.gov/media/110822/download
Washington State food establishment rule for **reduced oxygen packaging** states that if a facility uses reduced oxygen packaging for TCS food, it must have an **HACCP plan** (with HACCP plan content requirements cross-referenced in the regulation).
https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx/default.aspx?cite=246-215-03540
MDPI (2020/2013-era issue on optical oxygen sensors) explains vacuum and controlled-atmosphere packaging concepts for extending shelf life and notes that microbial growth and oxygen sensitivity are two limiting factors in ready-to-eat foods; it also describes oxygen measurements and package oxygen performance over a shelf-life timeframe.
https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/2/4/507
Penn State-hosted record: an older study reported that an **anaerobic modified atmosphere (75% CO2 / 25% N2)** resulted in **failure of both aerobic plate counts and Listeria monocytogenes to grow at all temperatures** in raw chicken context (i.e., oxygen reduction can strongly suppress growth for some conditions).
https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/growth-of-listeria-monocytogenes-scott-a-serotype-4-and-competiti
Journal of Applied Microbiology (1990s-era) study on meat: it compares aerobic, modified-atmosphere packaging (40% CO2 / 30% O2 / 30% N2), and vacuum packaging, finding that L. monocytogenes showed **limited growth aerobically and survival/death in MAP/VP** depending on film permeability and other factors (study includes oregano essential oil as an additional variable).
https://academic.oup.com/jambio/article/89/6/901/6721318
PMC paper on Listeria in chicken legs: it reports that **vacuum packaging** showed a **higher maximum growth rate and shorter lag phase** for psychrotroph growth compared with certain CO2/N2 MAP conditions (it also measures growth parameters of L. monocytogenes and psychrotrophic competitors).
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7601417/
J Food Prot (PubMed) study on precooked beef slices at 4°C: when held up to **18 days**, psychrotrophic counts were **higher in atmospheres containing ambient (20%) oxygen** versus lower-oxygen packaging treatments; it also reports packaging treatment effects over **9–18 days** and notes vacuum packaging had greater lag phase for psychrotrophs.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30978806/
USDA/NAL project record on modified atmosphere packaging of ground beef: it reports differences in E. coli O157:H7 growth among packaging types, including **vacuum bags (VAC)** and low-oxygen packaging formulations (e.g., 35% CO2/65% N2 and CO-containing low oxygen), with **VAC and certain low-oxygen types associated with less growth under temperature abuse conditions**.
https://www.nal.usda.gov/research-tools/food-safety-research-projects/inhibition-growth-escherichia-coli-o157h7-and
Semanticscholar PDF copy of a study on high-nitrogen/high-oxygen vs low-oxygen atmospheres reports that growth of organisms including **Lactobacillus spp., Brochothrix thermosphacta, Enterobacteriaceae, and Pseudomonas spp.** is affected by oxygen levels in modified atmospheres, demonstrating species-dependent response in low-oxygen foods.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fb94/0e30169d99d5306e696943e69102452c7f31.pdf
ScienceDirect review/research article: lowering oxygen levels with vacuum/MAP in low-oxygen environments is framed as a strategy to extend shelf life, and the paper specifically examined the effect of oxygen concentration on refrigerated vs ambient growth/survival of foodborne bacteria including **Listeria monocytogenes** (and others).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X23005999
FDA Food Code includes a regulatory section on **Reduced Oxygen Packaging** and the requirement for HACCP plan content when reduced oxygen packaging is used for certain foods/hazards (including concerns involving pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium botulinum in packaged conditions).
https://www.fda.gov/media/87140/download
FDA HACCP principles guidance notes that microbiological testing is **seldom effective for monitoring CCPs** because results take time, so HACCP should be designed to control hazards using process controls rather than relying on end-product testing alone.
https://www.fda.gov/food/hazard-analysis-critical-control-point-haccp/haccp-principles-application-guidelines
FDA Food Code includes detailed material on **vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging** as methods that reduce oxygen in packages, and it emphasizes hazards relevant to reduced oxygen packaging (e.g., for certain pathogens in final packaged form).
https://www.fda.gov/media/110822/download
In facultative anaerobes, oxygen limitation can induce alternative electron transport pathways (e.g., fumarate respiration) via oxygen-responsive regulation—mechanistically supporting why growth/metabolism can differ without oxygen.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2411/
For *Staphylococcus aureus*, oxygen-switch studies indicate growth without oxygen is possible via **fermentation or nitrate-based respiration**, showing that low/no-oxygen does not necessarily prevent growth for facultative anaerobes.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC95576/
PubMed record on *E. coli* O157:H7 and Salmonella survival on chill-stored beef: it compares survival under **chill-stored vacuum** versus **CO2-packaged** conditions, illustrating that survival/growth effects of oxygen reduction can be assessed experimentally in foods.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11294364/
(Not retrieved in searches above—replace with a CDC primary source if you need pathogen lists; omitted here because I did not obtain a citation in this run.)
https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/index.html
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