On April 17, 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published its annual report: Incidence and Trends of Infections with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food
The headlines — “Horse Meat Scandal Rocks the EU” or “Feds Indict Four in Salmonella Outbreak” — demonstrate it clearly: Food safety and quality issues and the responses to them are at an all-time high.
On May 7, 2012, FSIS announced that its traceback policy was about to change. Previously, in the event of a positive E. coli O157:H7 regulatory finding in finished ground beef, or in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak linked to ground beef, FSIS rarely would attempt to demine the original source of the contamination.
In today’s world, safety seems to be something most people leave on the back burner. Although our world is an inherently dangerous place, the fact remains that, during the course of an average day, most people still never really worry about their own personal safety.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2011 Estimates of Foodborne Illness in the U.S., the top five pathogens that contribute to domestically acquired foodborne illness are Norovirus, Salmonella (nontyphoidal), Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter spp. and Staphylococcus aureus.
Tremendous progress has been made in providing consumers with food that is consistently safe. Credit for this success is shared among industry, innovators, researchers, public-health surveillance and regulators (yes, regulators most certainly deserve a piece of the credit).
Escherichia coli comes in many different forms — far too many, in fact, to list here. Most are completely harmless. E. coli occurs naturally in human beings and is known to aid our digestive system. The most dangerous strains, those that cause the well-known symptomatology (including bloody diarrhea and kidney failure) in humans, produce Shiga toxins. These are referred to as Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia Coli (EHECs).
