Epidemiological approaches to food safety

The literature reveals that milder cases of foodborne diseases are commonly underreported and often undetected through routine surveillance. Outbreaks due to Staphylococcus aureus are not under active surveillance, yet they are on the rise.The goal of this retrospective study was to examine the associated risk factors and quantify the impact of foodborne disease outbreaks from secondary data sources collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other surveillance bodies. The results of the analysis revealed that during 1997-2007, the leading bacteria to which foodborne disease outbreaks were attributed were Salmonella (1,235), Escherichia coli (287), Clostridium (269), Staphylococcus (170), Campylobacter (150) and Shigella (124). Listeria monocytogenes infection resulted in the highest number of deaths (125/100,000 individuals). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from animal reservoirs and food products was recently documented to have entered the human population. We conclude that there has been increased isolation of MRSA in food animals.As a result, further studies into the involvement of food in the re-emergence of this pathogen into public knowledge/perception of food safety and handling, and into risks related to food consumption are crucial in reducing the trend of food-related diseases. Copyright© 2011, International Association for Food Protection.