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Executive Update
Controlling Foodborne Illness – Prevention or Correction?
Foodborne disease is a problem that no one seems able to solve: at least not yet. In April 2021, the Economic Research Service (ERS) released cost-of-illness estimates for fifteen food- borne illness pathogens. As of 2018, the cost was $17.6 billion. Five individual pathogens accounted for nearly 90 percent, or $15.7 billion, of that total cost. Those pathogens are Norovirus, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Toxoplasma, and Listeria. 1 Government and private industry use the ERS cost estimates to make decisions on how to respond long-term, and how to develop policies and management plans. However, the cost of outbreaks is not simply in dollars. In 2018, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), within the CDC’s Emerging Infections Program “identified 25,606 infec- tions, 5,893 hospitalizations and 120 deaths during the year.” 2
• Jack in the Box product specifications failed to require Von’s to test its meat for pathogens • Jack in the Box was unaware at the time of recent health department updates requiring meat to be cooked to 155°F,
How the Experts are Managing By Karen Haghighi, SNS
which would have killed the E. Coli bacteria 2. 2006 – Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak, linked to spinach
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• Consumers in 26 states and one Canadian province fell ill • There were 204 illnesses, including 104 hospitalizations, 31 cases of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (a serious complication) • There were three deaths • The spinach industry lost more than $200 million in retail sales, plus additional millions because consumers were reluctant to purchase spinach subsequently 3. 2008 – Salmonella outbreak at Peanut Corporation of America • 714 people got sick, about half of whom were children • Nine people lost their lives • Three executives received long jail sentences • The outbreak cost over $1 billion, because peanuts are an ingredient in so many other products. Kellogg’s, for exam- ple, lost $65 to $70 million because they needed to recall their own products 4. 2011 – Listeria outbreak from Jensen Brothers Produce • Cantaloupes were sold to several large grocery chains across 28 states • 147 people were sickened • 33 people died • The company had removed antimicrobial wash equipment, had not fixed a plumbing leak in the processing shed, and Jensen Brothers had repurposed their equipment from Continued on page 14
A Historical Perspective There’s no better way to illustrate the seriousness of foodborne disease outbreaks than to see the numbers themselves. Here are a few historical examples that subsequently influenced both government and industry to make policy changes: 1. 1992 – Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak at Jack in the Bo x • Caused by ground beef patties sold to retailers by Vons Companies of Arcadia, CA • More than 400 people were sickened • One child died
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