HISTORY OF MEDICINE Salmonella: a continuing problem

Salmonella was the archetypal food poisoning organism of the 20th century. It achieved a high public profile following the salmonella-in-eggs crisis of 1988–89, but by then had been the subject of public health concern and scientific interest for over a century. Early associated with animal foods, the advent of phage typing in the 1940s began to reveal the complexity of its environmental associations. This paper explores the story of salmonella as a continuing problem in epidemiology, microbiology and public health, in the food chain, and in the kitchen.