Download Uruguay boasts king-sized BBQ Congress drafts FDA

Study links screen time to obesity.......2
Testimony: Beef inspection spotty.......3
Americans fall short of guidelines........4
Senators: FDA is underfunded............7
Vol. XXXVIII No. 9 April 28, 2008
Food safety news
Congress drafts FDA
overhaul legislation
On April 17, several U.S. representatives who have been
involved in probes into the federal government’s efforts
to ensure food safety unveiled draft legislation that would
overhaul the FDA.
Representatives John D. Dingell (D-MI), Frank Pallone
Jr. (D-NJ), and Bart Stupak (D-MI) submitted a discussion draft of the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008. “This discussion draft is meant to stimulate discussion
about how to provide adequate fund-ing and authority
for FDA to ensure the safety of the nation’s food, drug,
medical device, and cosmetic supply in an increasingly
globalized marketplace,” the congressmen wrote in a
letter to fellow members of the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce. “This discussion draft raises challenging policy questions, and we anticipate a vigorous
debate on the issues.”
The draft legislation was prompted by investigations and
hearings conducted by the committee, as well as by 2007’s
report from the FDA Science Board’s Subcommittee on
Science and Technology regarding the administration’s
Food Protection Plan, Import Safety Plan, and input from
stakeholders. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold hearings on the draft legislation during
the next few weeks and will amend the legislation following the hearings, the congressmen wrote.
The draft legislation would, among other actions:
• Create an up-to-date registry of all food facilities serving American consumers and require all facilities
operating within or exporting to the United States
to register with the FDA annually
• Make generally-accepted-as-safe determinations
public
• Generate resources through a fee of $2,000 per food
facility, raising about $600 million for food safety
(and thereby doubling the food safety budget)
• Prevent food safety problems by requiring foreign
and domestic food producers to implement safety
plans, which the FDA would review during mandatory inspections every four years
• Expand lab testing capacity
• Require country-of-origin labeling and disclosure for
imported foods
• Provide the FDA with new authority to issue mandatory recalls of tainted foods
• Clarify consumer labeling for foods treated with carbon monoxide
Earl Brackett, senior vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said in an April 16 release that the
draft legislation “creates unnecessary regulatory burdens,
over-broad enforcement power, and would likely result in
a further increase in food prices.”
Visit the following links for more information:
• http://energycommerce.house.gov/FDAGlobalAct-08/
Dingel_60AXML.pdf to read the draft discussion
• http://tinyurl.com/4vvuam to read Brackett’s statement
Uruguay boasts
king-sized BBQ
Where’s the beef? Uruguay, apparently. According to
an April 13 Reuters story, more than 1,000 barbecue
fans in that country recently grilled 12 metric tons of
beef, setting a new Guinness world record while promoting the country’s top export. The Uruguayan army
set up a grill almost one mile long, and firefighters lit
six tons of charcoal to kick off the cookout. Some
1,250 people grilled the beef on April 13, in front of
approximately 20,000 spectators. The South American
country topped a Mexican grilling record from 2006
by 4 tons.
Page Food assistance news
Benefits-related fraud leads
to convictions, fines
The USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released
an update of developments in its various investigations
on April 7, detailing five criminal convictions for food
stamp and WIC violations across the country. In the
first case, a joint investigation by the OIG and the FBI
revealed that more than $2.5 million in fraudulent activity had been conducted at a New York delicatessen. The
delicatessen owner pled guilty to conspiracy, food stamp
trafficking, and wire fraud. In February, a New York
federal court sentenced the owner to 30 months of imprisonment and 36 months of supervised release. The owner
also had to forfeit $865,000 and pay the same amount in
restitution, the OIG said. The second case involved a grocery store without authorization to accept food stamps
that was engaged in large-scale food stamp trafficking
with several electronic benefits transaction (EBT) pointof-sale devices, the OIG said. The storeowner was sentenced in March to 41 months in prison and 24 months
of supervised release and was ordered to pay $2.8 million
in restitution. After serving his sentence, the storeowner
will face deportation, the OIG said.
A joint investigation by agents from the OIG, the Social
Security Administration’s OIG, and the IRS landed a
Antiobesity news
Study: Kids’ screen time
can lead to obesity
Although recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advise that preschoolers aged
2 years and older should spend no more than two hours
per day watching television and using the computer, new
research at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center
(CNRC) in Houston shows that many kids exceed that
time limit.
The extra time spent in sedentary activity may be detrimental to their health, according to an April 21 release
from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
The ARS operates the CNRC jointly with Baylor College
of Medicine, in cooperation with Texas Children’s
Hospital.
April 28, 2008
Pennsylvania storeowner with 48 months in prison, 72
months of probation, and $115,000 in restitution to the
USDA. The OIG said that during 1992–2006, the storeowner made false statements to several government agencies in order to receive more than $125,000 in food stamp
and medical benefits—all while the storeowner was on
probation for a 1997 federal arson conviction.
The fourth case involved an investigation conducted by
the OIG, the IRS, the FBI, and the St. Paul, MN, police
department. It revealed that a Minnesota convenience
store had engaged in trafficking about $100,000 of food
stamps. The storeowner was sentenced in January to 36
months in prison and 36 months of supervised release
and was ordered to pay $757,000 in restitution. In 2007,
the OIG said, four other defendants in the case pled
guilty to conspiring to traffic EBT benefits. They are
awaiting sentencing and will also be responsible for the
restitution.
In the last case, an OIG investigation uncovered a scheme
in which the owner and employees of a Texas retail grocery
store engaged in trafficking WIC vouchers and food stamp
benefits for cash through the EBT system. From January
1999 to May 2003, the store redeemed about $458,000 in
benefits that were not supported by legitimate sales. In
January, a federal court in the Western District of Texas
sentenced the storeowner to 36 months of probation and
ordered him to pay $459,000 in restitution.
Visit www.usda.gov/oig/new.htm to read the bulletin.
A new CNRC study analyzed the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey, which surveyed a diverse
group of more than 1,800 preschoolers, aged 2–5 years,
concerning their media consumption or “screen time,” measured as TV/video viewing or computer use.
Researchers compared children watching more than two
hours of TV/videos daily to those watching two hours or
less, and computer users to nonusers, relative to various
selected health outcomes related to obesity.
Results showed that 30.8% of the preschoolers studied
exceeded the AAP screen time guidelines simply through
watching TV/videos, without taking into account computer time, the release said. Most of the preschoolers in
this group watched one to three hours of TV/videos on
the assessment day. Those children who surpassed the
AAP recommendations for screen time were more likely
to be overweight or at risk for being overweight.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/5g4r3p to read the report.
© 2008 HCPro, Inc.
Page Food safety news
Testimony details past
slaughterhouse problems
Enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act
(HMSA) by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had been spotty for years before the alleged
wrongdoing at the Westland/Hallmark meatpacking
plant in Chino, CA, led to the largest beef recall in history, according to recent Congressional testimony by a
Government Accountability Office (GAO) official.
“The recently documented inhumane treatment of disabled cows slaughtered at the Westland/Hallmark plant
in California and the entry of their meat into the market
calls into question FSIS’ enforcement of the act,” said
Lisa Shames, director of natural resources and environment at the GAO, according to an April 17 transcript of
her remarks.
Shames spoke before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and the Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Domestic Policy. “In 2004,
we reported that FSIS was not adequately recording instances of noncompliance with HMSA and thus could
not assure the Congress that it was fully enforcing the act
at federally inspected slaughter facilities.”
Specifically, Shames said, the GAO found that:
• Incomplete and inconsistent inspection records made
it difficult to determine the frequency and scope of
humane handling and slaughter violations. Those inspection records showed that inspectors did not always
document HMSA violations and that, when they did,
the inspectors did not consistently document the scope
and severity of each incident. Enforcement actions to
address noncompliance with the act and other regulations were also inconsistent.
• FSIS officials were not using consistent criteria to
suspend plant operations. As a result, plants in different FSIS districts were not subject to comparable
enforcement actions.
• FSIS lacked detailed information about how much
time its inspectors spent on humane handling and
slaughter activities, making it difficult to determine
whether the number of inspectors was adequate.
The 2004 GAO report did not specifically assess FSIS’
effectiveness in enforcing the humane handling and
slaughtering provisions of HMSA, which may have been
violated in the Westland/Hallmark incident, Shames said.
© 2008 HCPro, Inc.
FSIS has addressed the recommendations in the 2004
GAO report to improve its reporting of humane handling and slaughter methods at federally inspected facilities, principally in regard to weaknesses in the agency’s
internal reporting of the frequency and scope of HMSA
violations, Shames said. “However, without further evaluation and public reporting to enhance transparency and
accountability, we do not know the effectiveness of these
actions,” she added.
Shames noted that although the FSIS budget has increased
since 1988, staffing levels have declined since 1995, “and
some districts have experienced high vacancy rates among
inspectors, possibly impairing enforcement of HMSA and
food safety regulations generally.”
FSIS’ budget authority increased from $392 million in fiscal year (FY) 1988 to $930 million in FY 2008—a 137%
increase, Shames said. The administration’s proposed FY
2009 budget calls for an increase in FSIS funding to $952
million. From FY 1995 to FY 2007, the number of fulltime employees at FSIS fell from approximately 9,600 to
about 9,200.
Meanwhile, Shames said, the volume of meat and poultry
inspected and passed by FSIS has grown, along with the
number of pounds of recalled meat and poultry. Shames
said more than 150 million cattle, sheep, hogs, and other
animals were slaughtered in FY 2007 at some 700 federally
inspected slaughter facilities throughout the United States.
Shames also pointed to an issue that the GAO has reported on several times—the fragmentation of the nation’s
food inspection/regulation system. “FSIS is only one of
15 agencies that collectively administer at least 30 laws
related to food safety. This fragmentation is the key
reason GAO added the federal oversight of food safety
to its High-Risk Series in 2007 and called for a governmentwide reexamination of the food safety system,” said
Shames. “The fragmentation results in federal resources
for food safety being directed to multiple agencies.”
Shames said the GAO has recommended that Congress
enact comprehensive, uniform, and risk-based food
safety legislation and commission the National Academy
of Sciences or a blue-ribbon panel to conduct a detailed
analysis of alternative organizational food safety structures. “We have also recommended that the executive
branch reconvene the President’s Council on Food Safety
to facilitate interagency coordination on food safety
regulation and programs,” said Shames. “According to
documents on the council’s Web site, the current administration has not reconvened the council.”
Visit http://tinyurl.com/3shkq2 to read Shames’ testimony.
April 28, 2008
Page Report: Americans aren’t meeting dietary guidelines
Editor’s note: This brief was excerpted from the March
USDA report, Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in
U.S. Food Consumption, 1970–2005. Visit www.ers.
usda.gov/Publications/EIB33 to read the report.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics,
about two-thirds of U.S. adults in 2003–2004 were either
overweight or obese, compared with 47% in 1976–1980.
The U.S. obesity rate among adults has more than doubled, from 15% in 1976­–1980 to 32% in 2003–20­04.
The extent of obesity has focused attention on what
Americans have been eating. The main reason for this
weight gain is the estimated increase in caloric intake
without a corresponding increase in physical activity.
More than 50% of U.S. adults are not physically active.
Poor diets and sedentary lifestyles have been associated
with diet-related chronic diseases in adults that include
hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
and certain kinds of cancer (HHS, 2005).
In an effort to promote a healthy, balanced diet with
adequate physical activity and to reduce the incidence of
diet-related health conditions, the USDA and HHS jointly
publish the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Since its
inception in 1980, the Guidelines have been published
every five years to provide targeted dietary recommendations for Americans older than 2 years. Although the
core dietary messages have remained constant over time
(e.g., eat more vegetables), each edition differs slightly
to reflect the latest scientific and medical information
on nutrition and health.
For example, the January 2005 Guidelines and a supporting guidance document, the MyPyramid Food Guidance
System, introduced specific recommendations for wholegrain consumption. The 2005 edition also breaks down
the new daily recommendations into 12 calorie levels
ranging from 1,000 to 3,200 calories per day, depending
on age, gender, and level of physical activity.
The MyPyramid Food Guidance System replaced the 1992
Food Guide Pyramid and is designed to help Americans
consume the recommended amounts of the different food
groups.
Among the major recommendations in 2005:
• Grains—emphasize that at least half of total grains
consumed should be whole grains
• Vegetables—emphasize dark green vegetables, orange
vegetables, and legumes (i.e., dry beans, peas, or lentils)
April 28, 2008
• Fruits—emphasize variety and “go easy” on fruit
juices
• Milk—emphasize fat-free and low-fat milk and milk
products
• Meat and beans—emphasize low-fat and lean meats,
nuts, seeds, and legumes
• Oils—use mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils and de-emphasize solid fats, such as butter,
margarine, shortening, and lard
In this report, we used the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans to estimate the dietary status of Americans.
The main goals of this study were to: (1) analyze the
amount of food available for consumption since 1970 for
each food group, and (2) estimate whether Americans are
meeting the Guidelines’ recommendations for each food
group.
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Page Food consumption patterns change in response to changes in relative food prices, increases in real (adjusted for
inflation) disposable income, and food assistance for the
poor. Moreover, time series data on actual consumption
by Americans are lacking.
intake in MyPyramid equivalents or daily allowance
(as identified in USDA’s MyPyramid Food Guidance
System, www.Mypyramid.gov).
The estimated MyPyramid equivalents for individual
commodities or foods are then aggregated to determine
total daily amounts for each food group. We then compared these estimates with federal dietary recommendations to provide an estimate of whether Americans are
meeting the dietary recommendations for the different
food groups.
Most consumer surveys of dietary intake cover one or
a few years of consumption, and most are not nationally representative of the U.S. population. We tracked
the amount of food available for consumption over time
and the dietary status of Americans using the Economic
Research Service Food Availability (Per Capita) Data
System, a unique, popular, and often-cited data system
In particular, we compared the amount of food conthat provides proxies for actual consumption. The data
sumed by the average American with the amount recsystem contains three separate but related data series—
ommended in USDA’s Food Guide in Appendix A-2
the Food Availability data, the
of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for
Loss-Adjusted Food Availability
Americans. These recommendations
data, and the Nutrient Availability
are broken into 12 calorie levels
Food consumption patterns
data—that each look at food conranging from 1,000 to 3,200 calories
sumption differently.
change in response to changes per day. Our data are unavailable
on the distribution of Americans
in relative food prices,
The first series, the core food
among each of the 12 calorie levels
increases in real (adjusted
availability data, is the only time
in the Dietary Guidelines, so instead,
series data on the amount of food
we used the 2,000-calorie-per-day
for inflation) disposable
available for consumption in the
reference level in our analysis to
income, and food assistance
United States and is a continube consistent with the level used
for the poor.
ous series extending back to 1909
throughout the examples in the
for many commodities. The data
Dietary Guidelines and on the nuare calculated for each food or
trition facts labels found on most
commodity (e.g., beef, low-fat
packaged foods. Like the food
milk, and fresh broccoli) as the sum of annual producavailability data series, the loss-adjusted data do not
tion, beginning stocks, and imports minus exports, enddirectly measure actual consumption. The data are useing stocks, and nonfood uses. Per capita estimates are
ful in approximating the amount of food Americans, on
calculated by dividing the total annual food supply of a
average, consume on a daily basis.
commodity by the U.S. population that year. Food availThe third series, the nutrient availability data, calculated
ability data do not directly measure actual consumption
by USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
but rather serve as useful indicators of food consumption
(www.cnpp.usda.gov), uses the food availability data to
trends over time. Used in this manner, the data provide
calculate the amounts per capita per day of food energy
an upper boundary on the amount of food available for
(calories) and 27 nutrients and dietary components (i.e.,
consumption.
protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals) in
the nation’s food supply. As with the food availability
The second series, the loss-adjusted food availability data,
data, the resulting nutrient and calorie estimates do not
adjusts the food availability data for spoilage and other
account for losses due to the household and marketing
losses and converts the per capita data to MyPyramid
system. In our analysis, we used the nutrient availability
equivalents or daily allowance for comparison with feddata to estimate the percentage of calories contributed
eral dietary recommendations. The percentage of food
by fat and saturated fat in the average American’s diet.
lost due to spoilage and other losses at several different
stages along the food production, marketing, and conThe analyses had several key findings. We found that
sumption chain is identified for each commodity or food.
many Americans do not meet the federal daily dietary
In addition, the estimates incorporate loss assumptions
recommendations. They consume foods and beverages
for nonedible food parts, such as rinds, seeds, cores, and
high in fats and carbohydrates at greater-than-recomstems, as estimated in USDA’s Nutrient Database for
mended rates and nutrient-dense foods and beverages,
Standard Reference (www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
such as lower-fat milk and milk products, fruits, and
search). Next, we converted the loss-adjusted data from
vegetables, at levels below recommended rates.
pounds per capita per year into daily per capita food
© 2008 HCPro, Inc.
April 28, 2008
Page Briefly
noted
The Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) said in an April 16 release
that the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit has upheld a ruling requiring marketers of Seasilver,
FTC: $120 million
an allegedly phony cure-all dietary
judgment upheld
supplement, to pay almost $120 million for failing to comply with an earlier order requiring them to pay $3 million in consumer
redress.
The decision, issued April 10, affirmed an earlier district
court order requiring Jason and Bela Berkes, Seasilver
USA, Inc., and Americaloe, Inc., to pay almost $120
million under an agreement with the FTC. The March
2004 order barred them from making false or misleading
claims and included a $120 million judgment that would
be suspended if they paid $3 million within a specified
time. The defendants did not meet the required payment
terms, and, in June 2006, a district court granted the
FTC’s request to enforce the stipulated judgment.
assistance, according to a release from Senator Tom
Harkin (D-IA).
The framework maintains the investment of the Senatepassed bill in farm income protection, as well as adding
investments in nutrition, conservation, and renewable
energy, and a program to provide disaster assistance to
farmers, said Harkin, who is chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.
“The clock is ticking to complete a new farm bill and, with
just one week to go before the extension expires, we must
reach agreement,” said Harkin. “The Senate has now presented two good offers to the House that strengthen farm
income and disaster protection and fill in gaps in nutrition
assistance, invest in farm-based renewable energy, help
farmers and ranchers conserve our natural resources, and
devote substantial new funding to initiatives for growers of
fruits, vegetables, and horticultural crops. We are getting
closer, but we still do not have agreement.” Visit http://tinyurl.com/6o5ghc to read the release.
According to the FTC, the defendants claimed that the
dietary supplement Seasilver was clinically proven to
treat or cure 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS,
and cause rapid, substantial, and permanent weight loss
without dieting. The FTC alleged that the claims were
false and unsubstantiated.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/63ydoy to read the release.
On April 18, Senate farm bill conferees presented to House conferees a
proposal for $10 billion in additional
spending for the farm bill, including funds for disaster
Harkin touts farm
bill proposal
Editorial Advisory Board
Robert Earl, MPH, RD
Senior Director, Nutrition Policy
Food Products Association, Washington, DC
Rodney Leonard
Founder, Community Nutrition Institute, Wahkon, MN
Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH
Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies,
and Public Health
New York University, New York, NY
Cecilia Richardson, MS, RD, LD
Staff Director/Nutrition Programs Director
National WIC Association, Washington, DC
Nancy Stiles, SFNS
School Nutrition Director
Hampton School District, Hampton, NH
April 28, 2008
South Korea has reopened its borders to U.S. beef products, according
to an April 18 statement by USDA
Secretary Ed Schafer.
South Korea opens
borders to U.S. beef
“By allowing complete market access for U.S. beef and
beef products from cattle of all ages, South Korea has
made a decision that is based on science and in line with
international guidelines,” said Schafer. “As a result of a
constructive and steady dialogue, Korean consumers will
again have access to safe, affordable, high-quality beef at
a time when global commodity prices are tightening.”
Nutrition
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Page Schafer said that in May 2007, the World Organization
for Animal Health formally classified the United States as
a controlled-risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Controlled-risk
status confirms that U.S. BSE regulatory controls are
effective and that U.S. beef and beef products of all ages
can be safely traded.
Before the Korean market was closed to U.S. beef and
beef products in December 2003, following the detection
of a case of BSE in the state of Washington, Korea was
the third-largest export market for U.S. beef and beef
products, with annual sales of more than $815 million.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/6lt93c to read the release.
USDA donations will exceed $100
million in a swap of government
surplus raw commodity stocks for
domestic and international food through the agency’s
“Stocks-for-Food” initiative, according to an April 16
USDA release.
Barter program to
exceed $100 million
in donations
Internationally, the barter initiative will help more
than 700,000 children through the McGovern-Dole
International Food for Education and Child Nutrition
Program.
The agency announced in 2007 that it would begin an
exchange of uncommitted raw commodity inventories
for food products to supplement USDA domestic and
Food safety news
FDA funds debated, detailed
at Senate panel hearing
Democratic and Republican senators say the FDA needs
more money than the White House has budgeted for next
year, according to an April 16 New York Times story. “To
us, it’s clear that they’re seriously underfunded,” Senator
Herb Kohl (D-WI) told the Times after an April 15 hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee.
The Times said Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-UT) agreed
with Kohl and questioned FDA Commissioner Andrew
C. von Eschenbach, MD, about how much money the
agency could use effectively. Bennett is the ranking minority member on the subcommittee. According to a transcript of von Eschenbach’s testimony, President Bush’s
fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget request for the FDA builds
© 2008 HCPro, Inc.
international food assistance. To date, the USDA has
bartered 1 million bushels of corn, 1 million bushels of
soybeans, 7.3 million bushels of wheat, 456 tons of peanuts, 1,987 hundredweight of rice, and 79,329 bales of
cotton.
Total processed foods acquired from the bartering include 18.4 million pounds of canned vegetables, 7.6 million pounds of peanut butter, 15.7 million pounds of
canned meats, 6,060 metric tons of vegetable oil, and
7,053 metric tons of corn-soy blend.
U.S. food and drug regulators will
begin work in China in June, once
Beijing gives its final approval, the
Associated Press (AP) reported April 15.
U.S. regulators
may report to
China in June
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the FDA is planning
to open an office in China as part of a new import safety
plan prompted, in part, by issues involving Chinese products that led to several health scares and were linked to
several deaths.
“In the past, the United States and many other countries
have employed a strategy of standing at the border trying to catch things that aren’t safe,” Leavitt told the AP
during a visit to Singapore. “We’re changing our strategy
from one of trying to catch unsafe products to building
safety into the products. Our purpose is not just inspection, it’s building capacity and maintaining relationships
between regulators.”
on the FY 2008 appropriation with a proposed 5.7% increase. This increase will give the FDA a budget of $2.4
billion, consisting of $1.8 billion in discretionary budget
authority and $0.7 billion in user fees. According to the Times story, the Senate passed a budget
resolution in March that would make the FDA’s allocated budget $375 million greater in FY 2009 than in FY
2008, a 20% increase. Von Eschenbach said he did not
believe that the agency could absorb so large a budget
addition in one year, the Times reported.
In his testimony, the commissioner detailed some of the
costs associated with the FDA’s Import Safety Action
Plan and its Food Protection Plan (FPP). The FDA is
requesting an additional $42 million in FY 2009 to protect the food supply and to continue to implement the
FPP plan.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/65bj8f to read the transcript of
von Eschenbach’s testimony.
April 28, 2008
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Foodborne illness data released
Preliminary data released by the CDC April 11 charts
the incidence of foodborne pathogen outbreaks and suggests that the government may need a new approach to
cut down on sickness due to salmonella poisoning.
the targets were reached in 2007. Salmonella incidence
was the furthest from its national health target, the CDC
said, “suggesting that reaching this target will require
new approaches.”
The CDC said that in 2007, the estimated incidence of
infections caused by Campylobacter, Listeria, Shiga
toxin-producing E. coli O157, salmonella, shigella, vibrio, and Yersinia did not change significantly from 2004–
2006, whereas cryptosporidium infections increased.
“Enhanced measures are needed to understand the complex ecologies that link pathogens to animals and plants;
to control or eliminate pathogens in food sources; to
reduce or prevent contamination during food growing,
harvesting, and processing; and to educate restaurant
workers and consumers about infection risks and prevention measures,” the CDC said.
Progress toward the Healthy People 2010 national health
objective targets and goals regarding the incidence of
foodborne infections occurred before 2004, but none of
Visit http://tinyurl.com/4owjls to see the data.
Percentage change in foodborne bacteria infections, 2007 vs. 2004–2006
80
Increase
95% confidence interval
40
20
No
change
0
-20
Decrease
% change*
% change estimate
60
-40
-60
-80
Campylobacter Listeria
Salmonella
Shigella
STEC† O157
Vibrio
Yersinia
Pathogen
* No significant change = 95% confidence interval is both above and below the no change line;
significant increase = estimate and entire 95% confidence interval are above the no change line;
significant decrease = estimate and entire 95% confidence interval are below the no change line.
† Shigna toxin-producing Escherichia coli.
Source: CDC
April 28, 2008
© 2008 HCPro, Inc.