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).
Nearly three years after Maple Leaf Foods began to overhaul its food-safety culture, the company’s commitment to ensuring safe products has become the bedrock of its business.
Although Maple Leaf Foods has always been committed to food safety, the deadly 2008 listeriosis outbreak traced back to some of its products forced the company to adopt more rigorous food-safety processes.
Like the proverbial lineman whose number is only called when he commits a penalty, industry seldom gets any accolades for its efforts to produce safe food.
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).
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