Top 10 Riskiest Food-Pathogen Combinations
Researchers at the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute have identified the Top 10 riskiest combinations of foods and disease-causing microorganisms, providing an important tool for food safety officials charged with protecting consumers from these costly and potentially life-threatening infections.
Millions of Americans get food poisoning each year and thousands die. The new report concludes that the five leading organisms: Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii and norovirus result in $12.7 billion in annual economic loss. Poultry contaminated with Camplylobacter bacteria topped the list, causing more than 600,000 illnesses at a cost of $1.3 billion per year. Salmonella in poultry also ranks in the Top 10, with $700 million illness costs.
The report questions whether new safety standards announced by the USDA for young chickens and turkeys are sufficient, and recommends evaluating and tightening these standards over time. Four combinations in the Top 10, Listeria in deli meats and soft cheeses, and Toxoplasma in pork and beef, pose serious risks to pregnant women and developing fetuses, causing stillbirth or infants born with irreversible mental and physical disabilities. The report recommends that agencies strengthen prevention programs for these pathogens and improve education efforts aimed at pregnant women. Norovirus is the most common foodborne pathogen and is largely associated with items that can become by service-industry workers who handle food.
Last year, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, which broadly directs the FDA to adopt a more preventative, risk-based approach, but doesn’t spell out exactly how this should be done. The risk-based analysis in the report provides the agency with one tool it can use to prioritize limited resources in ways that best protect consumers.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is Working for Winter to ensure that Ohio’s economic engine never stops running, even when snow and ice blanket our state.