Foodborne Illnesses

In 2001, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has estimated that food-related illnesses caused 76 million incidents annually. Of these, each year an estimated 325,000 Americans are hospitalized and 5,000 die. Those mainly at risk are children, the elderly, and people with impaired immune systems.
Many people who suffer from food poisoning are not aware of the cause. Symptoms may take a week or longer to appear, and victims frequently incorrectly attribute the distress and discomfort to the stomach flu. It is not until victims’ affliction becomes acute that tests are taken to determine the real cause. For those at risk, this is frequently too late and the consequences can be deadly.
The recent increase in foodborne illnesses has many causes. Fifty years ago, a main cause was the improper handling or storage of food. This caused health problems for a limited number of people. Due to increased industrialization and centralization of America’s food system, however, a problem anywhere in the system can affect large numbers of people. Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation (2001) has pointed to one cause for this increase in foodborne illnesses: the vast expansion of the meatpacking industry due to increased demand from the fast food industry. Schlosser estimates that there are roughly 100,000 Americans, mainly children and the elderly, who are annually sickened by Escherichia coli bacteria. Indeed, according to Schlosser, outbreaks of the potentially deadly E. coli 0157:H7 have occurred recently that have been traced to meat processors’ operations, just as Salmonella has increasingly been traced to poultry processing plants. In one study cited by Schlosser, 7.5 percent of the samples taken at processing plants were contaminated with Salmonella; 11.7 percent were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (of which one in five cases proves fatal), 30 percent with Staphylococcus aureus, and 53 percent with Clostridium perfringens; 78.6 percent of ground beef contained fecal matter.
On the other hand, the Food Safety and Inspection System (FSIS), the public health agency in the USDA, has tested more than 26,000 samples of ground beef since 1996. Of these, only 25 tested positive for E. coli and none of these samples were associated with any outbreak of illness. Even if food safety problems in the meatpacking industry were somehow solved tomorrow, foodborne illnesses would likely still increase. The Government Accounting Office has estimated that 85 percent of foodborne illnesses comes from fruits, vegetables, seafood, and cheeses—not meat or poultry.
Schlosser also raises concerns about the fat and nutritional content of the food served in fast food establishments. High cholesterol can cause health problems, and consuming vast quantities of fast food contributes to obesity. However, for most Americans an occasional trip to McDonald’s is not hazardous to health. It just depends on the rest of one’s diet. Popular images to the contrary, fast food establishments have a positive record of cleanliness when compared with other restaurants, and particularly when compared with home kitchens.
In fact, food safety experts have concluded that the home is the number one place where foodborne illnesses originate. Indeed, most home kitchens would not pass food inspections that public facilities regularly pass with flying colors. Most cases of illnesses caused by E. coli and Salmonella, even those originating at meat and poultry packers, could have been averted if homemakers had followed basic health procedures— proper storage of meat and poultry, washing hands frequently, prompt disinfection of all areas touched by raw meat or poultry, and cooking long enough at a high enough temperature.