Some interesting findings:

[waybomb]

CDC determines major sources of foodborne illness

The Centers for Disease Control has released a report that tells how most people got foodborne illnesses caused by four known pathogens:

▪ 74 percent of campylobacter illnesses were attributed to dairy (66 percent) and chicken (8 percent)

▪ 82 percent of E. coli. illnesses were attributed to beef (46 percent) and vegetable row crops (36 percent)

▪ 81 percent of listeria monocytogenes illnesses were attributed to fruits (50 percent) and dairy (31 percent)

In contrast, salmonella was more broadly attributed, as 77 percent of illnesses were attributed to a combination of seeded vegetables (18 percent), eggs (12 percent), fruits (12 percent), chicken (10 percent), sprouts (8 percent), beef (9 percent), and pork (8 percent).

The report was written in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the authors said it would help determine how to focus the government’s efforts to reduce foodborne illness.

Each year in the United States, an estimated 9 million people get sick, 55,000 are hospitalized, and 1,000 die of foodborne disease caused by known pathogens, the report said.

▪ Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration Project — Report on Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Estimates
http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/pdfs/ifsac-project-report-508c.pdf

 

[Luckytrim]

THX, Waybomb -
Wish I had seen this before I put together today's trivial DID YOU KNOW...

 

[ChowderMan]

somewhere I recall reading that campylobacter was actually some twice as frequent as salmonella, but as the symptoms can be less severe, people don't go for treatment and campylobacter is widely under-reported.

 

[waybomb]

It wasn't that long ago that if somebody ate some tainted food, and they were spray painting toilets from either end, it would be "Oh, it's just something I ate".

 

[waybomb]

And today this one is published. By the CDC.



A CDC analysis of E. coli O157 outbreaks between 2003 and 2012 found food to be the main culprit for transmitting the bacteria, with the majority of outbreaks linked to beef.

Of the 255 food-borne outbreaks of E. coli O157, 55 percent were associated with beef, 21 percent with leafy vegetables, 11 percent with dairy, 5 percent with other meats, 4 percent with fruits, 2 percent with sprouts, 1 percent with nuts and 1 percent with poultry.

A total of 390 outbreaks of E. coli O157 outbreaks were reported during the time period. Other sources of outbreaks were person-to-person contact, contact with animals and water.

Ground beef was implicated in 69 percent of beef-associated outbreaks and steak was the source in 14 percent.

The analysis noted that contamination of raw beef usually occurs during slaughter and meat processing by contact with hides contaminated with feces. Grinding can spread contamination through vast amounts of ground beef, and mechanically tenderizing steaks internalizes surface contamination, the researchers said.
People can protect themselves through proper handling of raw beef, by cooking products such as ground beef and mechanically tenderized steak to internal temperatures of at least 160°F and by thorough hand-washing after contact with animals or their environment, they said.

Clearly labeling mechanically tenderized beef might help consumers make safer choices, the report concluded.

In all, more outbreaks were reported during the 2003-2012 period than during the previous 20 years, probably due to improved surveillance and reporting, the CDC researchers said.

 

[waybomb]

And a bit more from a posting on meatingplace today:

On July 14, 2015, Meatingplace posted a high level analysis of the CDC’s latest report in its August edition of its Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, Volume 21, No. 8.

The report covers the period of 2003-2012 and looks at 390 outbreaks that caused 4,928 illnesses, 1,272 hospitalizations, 299 HUS cases and 33 deaths.

Of the 390 outbreaks (defined as 2 or more persons having culture-confirmed E. coli O157:H7 infections that were linked) 255 (65%) had transmission through food, 39 (10%) were person-to-person contact, 39 (10%) were related to contact with animals, and 15 (4%) had water contact. Forty two were from unknown origin.

As expected, the person-to-person contact was limited to day cares and all involved persons under five years of age; but unexpectedly, almost all water contact cases were in states bordering the Mississippi River.

Another interesting finding was that the illnesses were more severe, and led to more hospitalizations, when associated with foods eaten raw, like the lettuce, nuts and spinach categories.

While beef was linked in 78 outbreaks (20% of the total) and leafy vegetables were associated with 29 outbreaks (7%), hospitalizations for the leafy vegetables totaled 321 (35%) compared to hospitalizations for beef related outbreaks of just 316 (28%).

Of just the foodborne disease outbreaks, beef was implicated in 78 outbreaks (55%) while leafy vegetables were linked in 29 outbreaks (21%).

Of the types of beef (no surprise here) ground beef was associated with 54 outbreaks, 69% of all beef associated outbreaks. But steaks surprised me at 10 outbreaks for 14% of the beef total.

In all, 16 outbreaks were linked to dairy, with 13 (81%) being tied to unpasteurized milk and the other 3 to cheese made from unpasteurized milk. All totally preventable.

The saddest fact associated with the dairy linked outbreaks is that more than 25% of the illnesses were in children less than five years of age. What are their parents thinking?

Dairy used to represent 25% of all foodborne illnesses, but dropped to less than 1% with the advent of pasteurization. Now with the raw milk crazies it is back up to 5%.
Some good news for my readers around beef:
The percentage of foodborne E coli illnesses caused by beef dropped from 47% to 31%, and the percentage linked to ground beef decreased from 41% to 21%.