Foodborne illness causes as many as 5,000 deaths and 76 million illnesses annually. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the states investigate outbreaks, there is no readily available list of outbreaks linked to food sources. Such a list is needed by policy makers, researchers, the food industry, and the public to monitor trends, issue public health alerts, change production practices, and ultimately, prevent illnesses and deaths caused by contaminated foods.
To help fill that gap, CSPI compiled an inventory of 865 foodborne-illness outbreaks that occurred between 1990 and 2000. Seafood was responsible for 237 outbreaks. Eggs and egg dishes caused 170 outbreaks. Beef caused 91 outbreaks, and produce was responsible for 82 outbreaks.
CSPI's inventory of outbreaks is compiled from numerous documented sources, such as CDC's "Line Listing[s] of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks," CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, medical journal articles, and abstracts from conferences.
While preventing foodborne illness is a complicated task requiring many changes, surveillance of outbreaks could be improved greatly using the following steps:
1) Congress should give CDC and the states new funding to develop an Internet reporting system for use by all 50 states and to improve the release of information to the public;
2) States should report all foodborne-illness outbreaks to CDC;
3) CDC should serve as the national clearinghouse that maintains a comprehensive inventory of outbreak investigations and issues timely reports on all outbreaks; and
4) CDC should establilsh a uniform reporting system for deaths from foodborne illness.
See www.cspinet.orgLearning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant should be able to: 1) Recognize the need for a current listing of outbreaks linked to food sources. 2) Identify which foods result in the highest number of food-related outbreaks.
Keywords: Food Safety, Outbreaks
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Center for Science in the Public Interest
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.