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Title: FOOD SAFETY: EMERGING TRENDS IN FOODBORNE ILLNESS SURVEILLANCE AND PREVENTION.

Author
item McCabe Sellers, Beverly
item BEATTIE, SAMUEL - IOWA STATE UNIV, EXT SPEC

Submitted to: Journal Of The American Dietetic Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/16/2004
Publication Date: 11/1/2004
Citation: McCabe-Sellers, B.J., Beattie, S.E. 2004. Food safety: Emerging trends in foodborne illness surveillance and prevention. Journal of The American Dietetic Association. 104:1708-1717.

Interpretive Summary: One out of three Americans may suffer a foodborne illness each year if proper food handling practices are not followed. Some people such as the elderly, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk of such illnesses. New organisms, especially Norwalk-like viruses, are becoming the leading causes of such illnesses. The 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Prevention and Response Act is being implemented and will require both domestic and foreign imported foods to be more closely watched. The cornerstone of prevention, however, remains following good practices in handling foods by consumers, the food industry and institutional foodservices.

Technical Abstract: While concern for food safety has always been an important component of dietetic practice, important trends raise the need for dietitians to be even more alert to epidemiologic surveillance of traditional and emerging organisms, new analytic techniques, new packaging and processing techniques, and recent changes in legislation and regulations. One out of three Americans experience a foodborne illness annually. Increasingly, the vulnerability of older Americans, young children, pregnant women, breast feeding mothers, and those with compromised immune systems is being recognized. 2004 will see the implementation of the 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Prevention and Response Act requiring domestic and foreign food plants to register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and requiring food importers to give advance notice before shipments arrive at ports or border crossings. This review will present data and references reflecting these trends and highlighting the role of dietitians in ensuring a safe food supply.