Zoonotics ?

[Guest guest]

New computer-based tools are helping track outbreaks of food contamination in the united States more quickly, food safety officials say, but they need more funds to meet a growing public demand for a safe food supply.

The U. S. congress, which is starting its annual review of funding for federal government initiatives, is focussing on food safety issues after several recent health safety concerns associated with fresh and processed foods.

Experts say with Americans eating more fresh produce, U. S. consumers are more vulnerable to contaminated fruit and vegetables shipped through central processors.

"Food-borne disease outbreaks are clearly evolving here in the united States," said Ali Khan, deputy director for the National Centre for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We have increased centralization of our food supply."

For example, salmonella contamination of Pan peanut butter, made at a single plant in Georgia by ConAgra Foods, has sickened 370 people from 42 states and sent 60 of them to hospitals since last August.

In November, salmonella-contaminated tomatoes served in various restaurants made 183 people sick and last September, E. coli bacteria in uncooked spinach from one California farm killed three people and made 300 others sick in 26 states.

All of the incidents were reported promptly, with the outbreaks making headlines and media getting regular updates from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.

In the past, such outbreaks took weeks and months to be fully reported. Part of the reason for improved reporting is an array of new tools, such as CDC's PulseNet, a network of health labs that makes quick DNA fingerprints of food-borne pathogens to sort out the true outbreaks from sporadic cases, said Khan.

With 76 million cases of food-borne illness reported every year in the united States, and 5,000 related deaths, this can be like looking for a needle in a haystack", he said.

"It's a double-edged sword. People say, `wow, it is amazing that you found this' but then it is followed by, `why didn't you find it sooner?'

State and local health authorities should get the same tools that CDC has, so they can help track outbreaks, he added. "I think we need to recognize that since 2002, there has been about a 10 per cent reduction in resources for these particular food-borne safety programs," Khan said.

The CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the united States Department of Agriculture work together to protect the food supply, along with state and local health authorities.

Connecticut Democratic representative DeLauro, chair of the U. S. House agriculture appropriation sub-committee, said the FDA would have 72 fewer full-time employees at its Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in 2008 than in 2006.

She said the FDA lost 500 of its 4,000 inspectors since 2003.

The 2008 Health and Human Services Department budget is seeking more money, mostly for the FDA, "to develop better and more rapid methods of detecting food-borne illness, improve capacity to respond to outbreaks in the field, and build improved data systems to support the agency's import inspection activities," a spokesman said.

Reuters / as published in the Western Producer for March 15 2007

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my comment = every concern presented in this article is an argument in favour of REAL MILK being supplied from local herds.

What irony : REAL MILK is outlawed because of the 'threat' to the Public Health ... but did we see all production of peanut butter outlawed after people were hospitalized from one bad batch?!

[Guest guest]

This article is helpful to understand perhaps why the FDA and other agencies are getting on the cases of raw milk farmers, since the Agencies feel vulnerable to criticism in case something bad happens, especially with the dramatic reductions in staffing reported in this article.  This, of course, gives regulators the benefit of the doubt since the premise of their concern is a centralized food supply brought to us by Big Ag.  The biggest secret weapon that producers of raw milk have in this aspect of the discussion, is the inherent traceability and accountability in the system of local supply.  If something bad happens in a batch of raw milk, the farmer's phone rings off the hook within hours, and traceability can be nearly 100% with actual names of share owners.  I defy the centralized food processing system to beat such accountability.  Producers and consumers of raw milk, I think, sometimes overlook this very important strength of our system.  Bad things sometime do happen, altho less often than the Agencies worry they will.  When something goes wrong, there's very little that a computerized centralized system can do that's better than a local food supply which is managed for cleanliness and health from the very first blade of grass eaten to the last glass of milk that's poured.  The connections between those two points of the local raw milk and food supply system are the few links in a strong chain of food safety.Steve BemisNew computer-based tools are helping track outbreaks of food contamination in the united States more quickly, food safety officials say, but they need more funds to meet a growing public demand for a safe food supply.The U. S. congress, which is starting its annual review of funding for federal government initiatives, is focussing on food safety issues after several recent health safety concerns associated with fresh and processed foods.Experts say with Americans eating more fresh produce, U. S. consumers are more vulnerable to contaminated fruit and vegetables shipped through central processors."Food-borne disease outbreaks are clearly evolving here in the united States," said Ali Khan, deputy director for the National Centre for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."We have increased centralization of our food supply."For example, salmonella contamination of Pan peanut butter, made at a single plant in Georgia by ConAgra Foods, has sickened 370 people from 42 states and sent 60 of them to hospitals since last August.In November, salmonella-contaminated tomatoes served in various restaurants made 183 people sick and last September, E. coli bacteria in uncooked spinach from one California farm killed three people and made 300 others sick in 26 states.All of the incidents were reported promptly, with the outbreaks making headlines and media getting regular updates from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.In the past, such outbreaks took weeks and months to be fully reported. Part of the reason for improved reporting is an array of new tools, such as CDC's PulseNet, a network of health labs that makes quick DNA fingerprints of food-borne pathogens to sort out the true outbreaks from sporadic cases, said Khan.With 76 million cases of food-borne illness reported every year in the united States, and 5,000 related deaths, this can be like looking for a needle in a haystack", he said."It's a double-edged sword. People say, `wow, it is amazing that you found this' but then it is followed by, `why didn't you find it sooner?'State and local health authorities should get the same tools that CDC has, so they can help track outbreaks, he added. "I think we need to recognize that since 2002, there has been about a 10 per cent reduction in resources for these particular food-borne safety programs," Khan said.The CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the united States Department of Agriculture work together to protect the food supply, along with state and local health authorities.Connecticut Democratic representative DeLauro, chair of the U. S. House agriculture appropriation sub-committee, said the FDA would have 72 fewer full-time employees at its Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in 2008 than in 2006.She said the FDA lost 500 of its 4,000 inspectors since 2003.The 2008 Health and Human Services Department budget is seeking more money, mostly for the FDA, "to develop better and more rapid methods of detecting food-borne illness, improve capacity to respond to outbreaks in the field, and build improved data systems to support the agency's import inspection activities," a spokesman said.Reuters /  as published in the Western Producer for March 15 2007------------my comment = every concern presented in this article is an argument in favour of  REAL MILKbeing supplied from local herds.What irony  :  REAL MILK   is outlawed because of the 'threat' to the Public Health ... but did we see  all production of peanut butter outlawed after people were hospitalized from one bad batch?!