Source: Lisa M . Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 11/12/18


The most common sources of foodborne pathogens causing illness are widely varied and, for most pathogens, not meat, according to a new report from the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC).

The report, titled “Foodborne illness source attribution estimates for 2016 for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter using multi-year outbreak surveillance data, United States,” is the result of collaboration among the Centers for Disease Control, the Food & Drug Administration and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The authors used outbreak data to produce new estimates for foods responsible for foodborne illnesses caused by four pathogens in 2016. The CDC estimates that, together, these four pathogens cause 1.9 million foodborne illnesses in the United States each year.

IFSAC analyzed data from just over 1,000 foodborne disease outbreaks that occurred from 1998 through 2016 to assess which categories of foods were most responsible for Salmonella, E. coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter infections. The pathogens were chosen because of the frequency or severity of the illnesses they cause, and because targeted interventions can have a major impact in reducing them. The implicated foods were divided into 17 categories for the analysis, and the method gives the greatest weight to the most recent five years of outbreak data.

The 2016 report shows that:
• Salmonella illnesses came from a wide variety of foods.
• E. coli O157 illnesses were most often linked to vegetable row crops (such as leafy greens) and beef.
• Listeria monocytogenes illnesses were most often linked to dairy products and fruits.
o Dairy and fruits remain the top two categories with the highest estimated attribution percentages, but the difference between the two categories is not statistically signifcant.
o There was an increase in the estimated attribution of Listeria illnesses to vegetable row crops from 3.4 percent in 2013 to 12.5 percent in 2016 due to the impact of a large multi-state outbreak in 2015 linked to prepackaged lettuce.
• Campylobacter illnesses were most often linked to chicken after removing dairy outbreaks from the estimates.
o Most foodborne Campylobacter outbreaks were associated with unpasteurized milk, which is not widely consumed, and those outbreaks likely over-represent dairy as a source of Campylobacter illness.
o For 2016, chicken had a significantly higher estimated attribution percentage than the other non-dairy food categories. The adjusted chicken percentage increased from 9.5 percent to 30.3 percent after removing dairy.

The updated estimates combined with other data might help shape agency priorities and support the development of regulations and performance standards and measures, among other activities. As more data become available and methods evolve, attribution estimates may improve.

For more information on IFSAC projects, click here.

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