Fight Against Foodborne Illnesses is Failing
Government officials released a 10-state report on Thursday that found the country’s efforts to cut foodborne illnesses have not succeeded in reducing the number of infections.
The report found infections from Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli O157, Shigella and others remained fairly flat in 2007 compared with the three previous years. The report also showed that levels of Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes diarrhea, actually increased in 2007 compared with 2004-2006.
Data for the report were collected through collaboration between the CDC, the FDA, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state surveillance sites.
"We can’t say we’ve made tremendous progress in the last year," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases.
"The most salient observation we see is that there is not a particularly important change from the last few years," Tauxe told a news conference.
Faye Feldstein, the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Food Defense acting director, told Reuters the FDA would continue to implement strategies to cut down foodborne illness.
A crucial aspect of the strategy is a food protection plan, she said, which covers the entire spectrum from production to consumption “from farm to fork”. The plan involves preventing contamination, intervening at critical points in the supply chain and responding in ways that minimize harm.
Consumers can reduce their risk by following recommendations for safe food-handling and avoiding the consumption of unpasteurized milk, raw or undercooked eggs, raw or undercooked ground beef, raw or undercooked oysters and undercooked poultry.
Tauxe said the new report tracks data on infections diagnosed in 10 states and adds the results of other surveys to gain a comprehensive view on individual infections.
The apparent rise in Cryptosporidiosis was linked to a new treatment that increased the likelihood doctors would send specimens for testing, Tauxe said.
"There is more of a reason to get the specimen to the lab and to have the test done so that doesn’t mean that there is actually more Cryptosporidiosis illnesses but it means that more are being diagnosed now," he Tauxe.
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Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases