U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FDA FDA Listing of Food Recalls 2010 FoodSafety.gov FoodNet (Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network) Centers for Disease Control        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Outbreak Surveillance Data  http://www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/surveillance_data.html National Institutes of Health GOVT. PUBLICATIONS, DATA AND CAMPAIGNS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Outbreak Surveillance Data  http://www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/surveillance_data.html FDA: Foodborne Illness (Bad Bug Book) http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodborneIllness/FoodborneIllnessFoodbornePathogensNaturalToxins/default.htm FDA Food Protection Plan 2007 http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodSafetyPrograms/FoodProtectionPlan2007/default.htm FDA Reportable Food Registry for Industry and Consumers http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodSafetyPrograms/RFR/default.htm Healthy People 2010  http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume1/10Food.htm LAWS/ACTS/BILLS H.R. 2749 Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 |http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdvX22:@@@L&summ2=m&|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=111 S. 510 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdg9V0:@@@L&summ2=m&|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=111 H.R. 1332 Safe FEAST Act of 2009 |http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR01332:@@@L&summ2=m&|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=111 Modernizing Legislation to Enhance the U.S. Food Safety System http://search.nap.edu/nap-cgi/skimchap.cgi?recid=12892&chap=243-252   U.S. OUTBREAK DATA PLANTS/PRODUCE 2010 May 11: “Tainted Lettuce Recall Expands” http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_98644.html “TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- A recall of E.coli-tainted lettuce expanded late Monday as another food company said it was recalling lettuce grown on an Arizona farm currently under investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a potential source of the outbreak. “According to the Associated Press, California-based Andrew Smith Co., said it is recalling lettuce sold to Vaughan Foods of Moore, Okla., as well as a distributor in Massachusetts. Andrew Smith spokeswoman Amy Philpott told the AP that she would not identify the Massachusetts distributor because the lettuce in question is already past its expiration date. In the meantime, the FDA is investigating the Yuma, Ariz.-based farm as a potential source of contaminated lettuce that has so far sickened 19 people nationwide. Possible E. coli contamination has already prompted the recall of Freshway Foods' romaine lettuce, which is sold in 23 states and the District of Columbia, the FDA said last week. The agency said the lettuce may be linked to cases of E. coli illness in Michigan, Ohio and New York that involved the hospitalization of 12 people, three with potentially life-threatening symptoms, the AP reported. ”  . . . “Complicating matters is the fact that the strain identified in the lettuce is E.coli 0145, not the much more common and more easily identified E.coli 0157, the AP said. According to Dr. Patricia Griffin of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just 5 percent of labs conduct tests to spot this rare strain of the pathogen.”   2006 CDC/MMWR Foodborne Illness Data http://www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/pdf/surveillance/2006_reported_outbreaks_illnesses.pdf CDC OutbreakNet Database http://wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/Default.aspx   PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS The Produce Safety Project http://www.producesafetyproject.org/media?id=0009 Produce-Related Foodborne-Illness Outbreaks http://www.producesafetyproject.org/fact_sheets?id=0005 Outbreaks by the Numbers: FRUITS 1990-2005 www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/IAFPPoster.pdf   PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE / JOURNALS Foodborne Illness Medline Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodborneillness.html The price of foodborne illness in the USA The Lancet Volume 375, Issue 9718, 13 March 2010-19 March 2010, Page 866 Reinberg, S. “Food-Borne Illness in U.S. Costs $152B Annually.”  http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=113965 “For example, costs related to campylobacter exceed $18.8 billion annually; costs linked to salmonella are estimated at $14.6 billion; and costs related to listeria are $8.8 billion, according to the report. The majority of food-borne illnesses are caused by produce, which are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Thirty-nine percent of E. coli outbreaks were due to produce regulated by the FDA, the report said. According to the report, California, Texas, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania have the highest costs related to food-borne illness, ranging from $6.7 billion to $18.6 billion each year.” Dunn, Marilyn L. Analysis of Produce Related Foodborne Illness Outbreaks. Alliance for Food and Farming. Jan. 2010 www.foodandfarming.info/docs/386Produce_Analysis_2010_Final.pdf “ . . . from 1990 to 2007 . . . . 21.9 percent of all foodborne illnesses were associated with produce. Of that, 15.8 percent were a result of improper handling after leaving the farm and 6.1% of illnesses were associated with the growing, packing or shipping of produce.” “The vast majority of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with produce contaminated after leaving the farm is attributed to mishandling at the foodservice level (65% of outbreaks and 74% of illnesses). This is followed by mishandling at community events (14% of outbreaks) and mishandling in the home (13% of outbreaks).” “Since fresh produce is often not cooked before consumption, it is susceptible to contamination and must be handled carefully at all levels, including the farm, the shipper, the processor, foodservice operators, retailers and consumers.”   POPULAR PRESS / MEDIA Report Faults FDA on Food Safety,” News Inferno. June 9, 2010. http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/21053 “The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) estimated that Salmonella infections, from all sources, cost about $2.65 billion annually, based on an estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 1.4 million Salmonella cases annually from all sources, with 415 deaths. The estimated average cost per case is $1,896. The ERS also put the cost of E. coli O157 cases at $478.4 million, using the CDC’s estimate of 73,480 cases per year from all sources, with 61 deaths. The average cost per case is estimated at $6,510.” “food safety legislation passed by the House in 2009, said the AP. For instance. The legislation will allow for quicker and more efficient tracking of the origins of food borne outbreaks, help to prevent further outbreaks, increase food facility inspections, expand agency access to records and test outcomes, and allow the agency to issue recalls when a company does not recall a dangerous product, said My Fox Chicago previously. The Senate is looking for a similar bill over the next few months, said the AP.” “The FDA, explained the AP, is responsible for the safety of most of the nation’s food supply—some 80 percent—such as seafood, dairy, and produce. The agency’s responsibility also includes over 150,000 food facilities, over one million restaurants and food establishments, and over two million farms, wrote the AP, citing the report. The USDA, meanwhile, has oversight for meat, poultry, and some—not all—egg products, said the AP. To confuse matters, food safety is handled by no less than 15 different agencies that work under some 30 laws, with some in effect over 100 years, wrote the AP.” OPEN BOOK (free online access): Enhancing Food Safety Institute of Medicine http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12892&page=333 ETHICAL ISSUES OF FOOD SAFETY FAO Expert Consultation on Food Safety: Science and Ethics Italy, Sept 2002 http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/j0776e/j0776e00.htm#Contents VIDEO ONLINE FREE Frontline: Modern Meat Video Excerpt http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/etc/video.html ONLINE WITH NETFLIX     PBS / POV Food Inc Page: http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/                                                          Google News        News Paper Archive       Politico LA Times    NY Times       Reuters      USA Today     USA Today Markets     Wall Street Journal       Washington Post   QUSTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS: Contact@DeficitsDoMatter.org