Health &Wellness -- The Informed Patient: Why Some Foods

Are Riskier Today

Author: Landro, Laura
Within the past few weeks there has been a salmonella outbreak linked
to a sausage and salami facility in Rhode Island, a recall of chewy
chocolate chip granola bars in California also potentially contaminated
with salmonella and a recall of cheese in Washington state potentially
contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, which can cause serious,
sometimes fatal, infections. While the sausage contamination resulted
in 225 people becoming ill in 44 states, the other two recalls didn't
involve any illnesses. Without stricter food-safety enforcement, though,
consumers may not be so lucky.A growing number of Americans have
been sickened by foodborne illness -- in many cases from food they
never considered risky. While most of the 76 million reported foodborne
illnesses a year are mild, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths
are related to tainted food each year. Foodborne illness outbreaks
appear to be increasing, the Food and Drug Administration says.That's
partly due to better detection methods. But it's also because new
disease-causing organisms have emerged and imports of food from
countries without the same safety standards as the U.S. are on the
rise. What's more, consumers are demanding less-processed foods
such as raw milk and fresh juices that aren't cooked or pasteurized to
kill bacteria.Pending food-safety legislation would give the FDA
sweeping new powers to police food safety and focus its efforts on
preventing food contamination. The House passed a food-safety bill in
July, and a similar bill is awaiting a full vote in the Senate. Food-safety
advocates are hoping that a compromise measure will become law this
year, which would allow the FDA to heighten its inspection of imported
food, set safety standards for fresh produce, force companies to recall
tainted products, and require companies to keep better production
records.Food industry groups have taken a number of steps to make
food safer, including creating guidelines to minimize bacterial
contamination on farms and meat-processing facilities. Food
processors are also working on programs to better trace products
through the supply chain. They also point out that while Americans
consume about one billion servings of fresh produce every day,
according to the United Fresh Produce Association, illness outbreaks
are rare.But while the U.S. food supply is still among the safest in the
world, "there are many gaps in our country's food safety net that could
result in serious adverse public health consequences," says Michael

Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety.

Among the most serious concerns: a rise in imports to meet consumer
demand for year-round fresh produce and fish, among other items. The
FDA lacks oversight of food from countries that don't have the same
level of sanitary practices as the U.S., Dr. Doyle says. That's one reason
why disease outbreaks have been linked to green onions and jalapeno
peppers from Mexico, white pepper from Southeast Asia and dried
vegetable powder from China used on potato chips. Consumers may
also ignore warnings about unsafe food habits because of preferences
for foods such as raw oysters, rare hamburgers, fresh juices,
unpasteurized cheese and runny egg yolks, which all carry higher risks
of contamination.

References:
Landro, L. 2010, Health & Wellness -- The Informed Patient: Why Some
Foods Are Riskier Today, Eastern edition edn, New York, N.Y.