Food Poisoning Strikes Millions of Americans Each Year

Even when we read about the salmonella outbreak linked to eggs that sickened 1,300 people, or 826,000 pounds of contaminated ground beef that was recalled in 12 states, or the E. coli epidemic traced to California spinach that spread to 26 states… we don’t think this can happen to us – not in the United States.

But food-borne illnesses can, and do, strike millions of Americans each year. Here are some startling facts about the impact of contaminated food on consumers and their families.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million Americans a year – one in six – become ill from something they ate. Approximately 128,00 of these victims are hospitalized, and about 3,000 of them die. But because the symptoms of food-borne illness resemble those of the flu – nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and sometimes fever – thousands of additional cases may never be reported.
• The August 2010 salmonella outbreak associated with tainted eggs made 1,300 people sick and resulted in half a billion eggs being recalled. Yet, at the Iowa Farms identified as the source of the outbreak, eggs are still being laid by infected chickens. After being pasteurized, these will soon find their way to restaurants and home kitchens in the form of liquid eggs, or as ingredients in mayonnaise or ice cream.
• Despite several massive E. coli epidemics and emergence of a new drug-resistant E. Coli strain, contaminated ground beef continues to be used in pre-cooked products such as frozen meatballs and canned soups.
• While there is widespread publicity about recalls, in reality a lot of contaminated food makes it to grocery stores and remains on the shelves until purchased by unsuspecting consumers. Three cases in point: in 2009, 56 of 59 recalls by the U.S. Department of Agriculture were not able to recover the amount identified as tainted. That same year, after ground beef tied to a salmonella outbreak was recalled, only 25 percent of the contaminated beef was recovered by the Denver processor. In another case, where e.coli was linked to ground beef in New York, less than one percent of that beef was actually recovered!
• Proportionately, the most dangerous sources of food poisoning are catered events, not restaurants or meals prepared at home. A CDC researcher found that in the decade between 1998 and 2008, 833 outbreaks of food-borne illness were linked to caterers, causing nearly 30,000 illnesses, 345 hospitalizations, and four deaths. This means that there are 36 illnesses stemming from every outbreak caused by catering – compared with 13 illnesses per outbreak traced to restaurants or home cooking.

Responding to these startling statistics and vigorous lobbying by consumer organizations, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) at the end of 2010, and it was signed into law by President Obama January 4, 2011.

A major purpose of the Food Safety Modernization Act is to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to focus on prevention rather than too-little-too-late reaction to food safety problems. The law gives the FDA new enforcement powers and new tools for:

• Mandatory preventive controls for food facilities
• Mandatory produce safety standards
• Prevention of intentional contamination
• Required inspection frequency
• Access to industry food safety plans
• Testing by accredited laboratories
• Mandatory recall when needed
• Suspension of registration
• Improved product tracing capability
• More recordkeeping for high risk foods
• Importer accountability
• Third-party certification that foreign foods meet US standards
• Certification for high risk foods
• Voluntary program for expediting review of imported foods
• Authority to refuse entry if FDA is denied access to foreign facility
• State and local partnerships for greater food safety
• Training of foreign food producers on US food safety rules
• Reliance on inspections by other agencies

Why was the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act so important? Read on.

The most vulnerable to food-borne sicknesses are young children, pregnant women, and the elderly. But, in truth, no one is immune. That’s because the most common carriers are poultry, beef, and leafy greens… perhaps the most popular dishes on restaurant menus and kitchen tables.

Poultry accounts for 17% of incidents of food poisoning; beef accounts for 16%; and leafy greens cause 14% of outbreaks. But recent food-borne-illness outbreaks in the U.S. include a bacterial buffet of snacks and main dishes, including eggs, salami and sausage products, pistachios, peanuts and peanut products, peppers and spinach.

Here’s how disease-causing bacteria, called pathogens, wend their way from farms and processing plants to our markets and homes.

When traced to their source, many of our food products come from once-live animals, such as chickens or cattle. Animals used for food may have ingested tainted feed, or been infected by fecal matter containing e.coli. Some forms of bacteria may have been picked up in the slaughter house or the food processing plant. In any case, raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs are not sterile – so they are the first suspects when symptoms of food-borne illness appear.

In the same sense, fresh fruits and vegetables such as melons, lettuce, tomatoes, and sprouts are subject to many kinds of bacteria as they are grown. And regardless of what the packaging says, most of them are not washed – much less sterile.

Raw foods are not the only culprits, however. According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, even foods that have been cooked and marketed as “ready to eat” can become cross-contaminated. Bacteria are transferred easily from raw products, meat juices, or other tainted sources – or by food handlers who have not washed their hands.

CDC analyses indicate that while no cause is ever found for about a third of outbreaks, the most prevalent causes of food-borne diseases are salmonella and norovirus. Salmonella contamination is often caused by rodents in packaging and distribution facilities, while norovirus sneaks into food products when workers don’t wash their hands.

Here are the pathogens on the USDA’s list of outlaws.
(Source: Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.)

If you or a family member becomes ill from a food-borne pathogen, you should seek medical treatment if the symptoms are severe or persistent. If anyone who is ill is in a high-risk group – a pregnant woman, a baby, an elderly person or one whose immune system has been compromised – call the doctor immediately.

Make sure you save evidence so that the source of the food-borne illness can be traced. For example, save a portion of the suspected food item, wrap it securely, label it, and put it in the freezer so you can provide it to authorities or medical personnel. Be sure to save cans, cartons, and packaging materials, as well.

You can prevent multiple illnesses, and even save lives, by calling your local health department if you think the illness stems from a cafeteria, restaurant, or catered event, or from a product you purchased at a grocery or convenience store. If you have identified the source as a USDA-inspected product, also call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline.