Foodnet

  • Salmonella numbers still high, O157 way down; new Foodnet numbers

    Posted: June 7th, 2011 - 1:17pm by Doug Powell

    Salmonella infections in the U.S. have not declined in a decade, and should be targeted in new public health initiatives.

    So says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in the annual Foodnet update.

    The report says the incidence of E. coli O157 infection has declined to reach the 2010 national health objective target of ≤1 case per 100,000.

    The prevention measures that reduced STEC O157 infection need to be applied more broadly to reduce Salmonella and other infections.

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    Cdc, food safety, Foodnet, policy, salmonella
  • Same as it Ever Was: U.S. FoodNet data for 2009 shows nothing has changed

    Posted: April 15th, 2010 - 1:16pm by Doug Powell

    I finished our U.S. taxes early this morning and filed before the April 15 deadline.

    Amy wasn’t taking advantage of our full deductions, so I pompously declared I would do the taxes this year – my first time filing in the U.S. – and then of course waited until the last day to file.

    They’re done, at least until we get audited, so it’s back to foodborne illness and the annual FoodNet data which is awesome because it provides an annual snapshot, and sucks because it shows nothing is changing.

    All the talk in Washington, all the outbreaks, all the Pulitzer-prize winning media coverage, all the ridiculously boring coverage of so-called foodborne illness in the vanity presses by those who can afford them and … the incidence of foodborne illness isn’t changing. So maybe it’s time to do something different.

    In 2009, a total of 17,468 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection were identified. In comparison with the first 3 years of surveillance (1996--1998), sustained declines in the reported incidence of infections caused by Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, Shigella, and Yersinia were observed. The incidence of Vibrio infection continued to increase. Compared with the preceding 3 years (2006--2008), significant decreases in the reported incidence of Shigella and STEC O157 infections were observed. For most infections, reported incidence was highest among children aged <4 years; the percentage of persons hospitalized and the case fatality rate (CFR) were highest among persons aged ≥50 years. In 2009, the Healthy People 2010 target of ≤1.0 case per 100,000 population for STEC O157 infection (objective 10-1b) was met (2). Further collaborative efforts with regulatory agencies and industry are needed to sustain and extend recent declines and to improve prevention of foodborne infections.

    Maybe someone should take leadership and stop gassing on about collaboration.

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    data illness, Foodnet, Surveillance
  • Efforts to reduce foodborne illness remain stalled; new approaches needed so fewer people barf

    Posted: April 9th, 2009 - 1:07pm by Doug Powell

    The Centers for Disease Control reported today that foodborne illness remains a significant public health issue in the United States, and that, “fundamental problems with bacterial and parasitic contamination are not being resolved.”

    Douglas Powell, an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University, says that more training, testing and inspecting is not the answer.

    "There are way too many people getting sick," Powell said. "The CDC data show existing efforts to reduce foodborne illness have stalled. We need new messages using new media to really create a culture that values microbiologically safe food."

    Powell publishes barfblog.com and conducts research on human food safety behavior from farm-to-fork. He can be reached by phone at 785-317-0560, or e-mail dpowell@k-state.edu.

    His bio is at
    http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/powellbio.html
     

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    Cdc, Communication, Foodnet, Powell, Vomit
  • New strategies required to reduce foodborne illness says CDC; don't eat poop

    Posted: April 10th, 2008 - 9:44pm by Doug Powell

    The Centers for Disease Control reported today that foodborne illness remains a significant public health issue in the U.S., with Salmonella infections increasingly problematic.

    "Although significant declines in the incidence of certain foodborne pathogens have occurred since 1996, these declines all occurred before 2004," the CDC reported (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5714a2.htm).

    "Outbreaks caused by contaminated peanut butter, frozen pot pies, and a puffed vegetable snack in 2007 underscore the need to prevent contamination of commercially produced products. The outbreak associated with turtle exposure highlights the importance of animals as a nonfood source of human infections. To reduce the incidence of Salmonella infections, concerted efforts are needed throughout the food supply chain, from farm to processing plant to kitchen."

    "Food safety is a continuing problem that starts at the farm and continues through the food chain all the way to the kitchen," Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of CDC's Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, said during a teleconference.

    Given that rates of foodborne infection haven't changed significantly in the past three years, more needs to be done to improve food safety, Tauxe said "We have to be vigilant about hygiene practices and prevention all along the way to reduce the risk of foodborne infection."

    "There's just way too many sick people," said Dr. Douglas Powell, an associate professor and scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University.

    " The CDC data show existing efforts to reduce fodborne illness have stalled," said Powell, who also publishes barfblog.com. "We need new messages using new media to really create a culture that values microbiologically safe food."
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    Cdc, Douglas Powell, Foodnet