By Bara Vaida
An inevitable aspect of health reporting is covering outbreaks of foodborne illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in six people in the U.S. get a foodborne illness each year, and 128,000 of them are sick enough to need hospitalization. About 3,000 people die from a foodborne illness each year.
This year, there have been dozens of cases of tainted food including romaine lettuce, basil, papaya, ground bison, as well as backyard hens, turtles and treats for dogs that have been linked to human illnesses. Further, there are a growing number of pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics that are being found in food. For example, resistant bugs in beef and cheese products sickened 255 people in 32 states in October 2019.
In the U.S., the culprits in the majority of foodborne illness are the norovirus, salmonella, clostridium perfringus, campylobacter and staphylococcus. Pathogens such as clostridium botulinum, escherichia coli [e. coli], listeria and vibrio found in food cause illness less rarely, but when they do, they are more likely to lead to hospitalization, says the CDC.
These pathogens can get into the food supply in several ways: during production, if fields are sprayed with contaminated water or an animal’s reproductive organ is infected; through processing when germs from an animal’s intestines end up in the meat product after slaughter; during distribution if a truck isn’t properly cleaned after an animal product is delivered; or during preparation if the person cooking the food is ill.
Over the past several years, there has been a significant increase in food borne illness caused by the parasite cyclospora cayetanensis, which can thrive in water and intestines. Cyclospora has been linked a number of large produce outbreaks, including contaminated basil and mesclun lettuce.
Food recalls by the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are an almost daily occurrence. For example, between Oct. 1 and Oct. 23, 2019, the food safety website, FoodSafetyNews, reported at least 20 instances of food recalls – from cheese and beef on sale at Whole Foods to frozen tuna from a Florida company – because they were found to be harboring dangerous levels of salmonella, e. coli or listeria.
The reason for the rise in recalls may in part be due to better surveillance tools. The CDC operates the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, (FoodNet) and utilizes newer whole genome sequencing technologies to trace the sources of outbreaks. In 2018, for examples, [the latest figures available from the CDC], the CDC identified 25,606 infections 5,893 hospitalizations and 120 deaths, of which most were caused by campylobacter, salmonella and e. coli.
In 2010, the FDA’s mission in food safety expanded with passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which shifted the role of regulators from responding to outbreaks to preventing them as well. The law mandated the agency – which oversees the safety of all food except meat, poultry and eggs – conduct field inspections, and it gave the agency the authority to require a company to recall a contaminated product, if they don’t do so voluntarily.
The USDA oversees the safety of meat, poultry and eggs, and it too is mandated to conduct inspections of meat and egg production.
Whether the FDA and the USDA have enough funding to properly inspect food and enforce the law is a subject of debate. In 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general raised questions about whether it has adequate resources to fulfill is job. In September 2019, the USDA finalized rules to give pork producers more leeway in how government inspectors oversee their products.
Consumers advocates are concerned the changes will result in more food contamination while the USDA says the regulatory changes will enable more industry innovation.
To learn more about covering food safety, here are some questions and resources for journalists to consider:
- Could the USDA rule changes threaten the safety of the food system?
- Are there enough food safety inspectors working to keep the system safe?
- Why are there so many food recalls?
- Why is there an increase in Cyclospora infections?
- Are organic foods any safer than non-organic foods?
- What are the working conditions of food farm workers and do they contribute to food safety issues?
- How big a role has the heavy use of antibiotics in food farming resulted in food borne illnesses that are resistant to antibiotics?
Additional resources:
Reporter uses FDA, USDA Documents to find year’s biggest food recall: Feb. 2019
Where to get data on food safety: AHCJ Infectious Disease Core Topic page
Antibiotic resistance in food-poisoning bacteria on the rise: Nov. 2017
Food borne Outbreaks 101: Introduction to CDC’s Investigational Process for Multistage Foodborne Outbreaks, CDC presentation to AHCJ fellows in December 2017
Research: Finesse, transparency key when reporting on food borne illness outbreaks: March 2017
Experts say new tools, tougher government oversight can reduce food borne illnesses: March 2013
Food safety: getting beyond the annual food scare: May 2012
Investigating, localizing salmonella outbreaks: August 2010
Fatal Food: A study of illness outbreaks: Feb 2007
Recent coverage:
FDA Launches Food Safety Dashboard to Track Food Safety and Modernization Act progress: Center for Infectious Disease Research, October 2019
Changes in pork regulations spark concern: Today.com. September 2019
US worker, food safety advocates sound alarm over new hog slaughter rules: Reuters, September 2019
Scientists Say Many UTI’s are caused by E. Coli in food – when will government believe them?: The New Food Economy, August 2019
FDA Stepping Up Frozen Food Inspections: Washington Post, July 2019
CDC Tips on Preventing food Poisoning: Washington Post, August 2019
Reports: Preliminary Incidence and Trends of Infections with Pathogens transmitted commonly Through Food- Foodborne diseases Surveillance Network, 10 US cities: 2015-2018: CDC, April 2019
Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks, US, 2017: Annual Report: CDC, September 2019
How Safe is Our Food?: U.S. Public Interest Research Group, January 2019
Improving working conditions for US Farm Workers and Food Production Workers: American Public Health Association, November 2017
Government media resources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Media: Bert Kelly, team lead for infectious disease topics: msy5@cdc.gov; 404-718-1053
USDA Media contacts, click here
FDA: Media contacts on food safety
Advocates:
American Frozen Food Institute: Nonprofit representing the frozen food industry
Center for Science in the Public Interest: Nonprofit focused on consumer interests. Jeff Cronin , 202-777-8370 or Richard Adcock, 202-777-8318
Food & Water Watch: Founded by a dozen former Public Citizen advocates, this national grassroots coalition is focused on food safety and economic justice in 10 state regional offices, in Europe and in Washington, D.C.
Food Safety News: Founded by Bill Marler, a lawyer and food safety advocate
Grocery Manufacturers Association: Nonprofit group representing national grocery store chains
International Association for For Food Protection: Organization representing 4,500 food safety professionals
Safe Food Project: The Pew Charitable Trusts: The nonprofit’s efforts aimed to modernize and improve food safety policies:
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union: Represents slaughterhouse employees
The National Chicken Council: Nonprofit representing chicken farmers
National Pork Producers Council: Nonprofit representing pork producers
North American Meat Institute: Nonprofit representing meat and poultry companies
