 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Caroline Smith DeWaal, JD, Director of Food Safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1875 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009 and Deliya R. Banda, MPH, Food Safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1875 Connecticut Ave , NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 777 8349, dbanda@cspinet.org.
Contaminated foods are estimated to cause 5,000 deaths and 76 million illnesses in the U.S. per year. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) maintains a database of foodborne-illness outbreaks categorized by food vehicle. Linking outbreaks to specific foods serves to alert consumers to food-safety hazards and gives policymakers and public-health officials better information to design risk-based hazard-control plans. CSPI’s database was compiled from sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state and local health departments, and medical and scientific journals. The database is updated yearly, and contains only those outbreaks with known or suspected etiology and food vehicle. CSPI found that the top five food categories linked to food-poisoning outbreaks (2,472 outbreaks), not including multi-ingredient foods, were seafood (539 outbreaks), produce (293 outbreaks), eggs (277 outbreaks), beef (251 outbreaks), and poultry (235 outbreaks). Multi-ingredient foods, including salads, pizza, and sandwiches, were linked to 330 outbreaks. Overall, 27% of food-poisoning outbreaks were attributed to meats such as beef, poultry, pork, luncheon meats, and game, while 66% of outbreaks were linked to other foods such as seafood, multi-ingredient foods, eggs, produce, dairy, breads, and beverages, and seven percent of outbreaks were linked to multiple foods. Historically, meats have been thought to pose greater risks than other foods because of possible contamination with pathogenic microorganisms that can live inside animals’ intestines. As these data emphasize, all types of foods have the potential to carry hazards and should be treated properly and handled safely to avoid food-poisoning outbreaks.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Food Safety, Outbreaks
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.