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As doenças transmitidas por alimentos (DTAs) são definidas como enfermidades infecciosas ou tóxicas causadas pelo consumo de alimentos ou água contaminados. Na atualidade, são consideradas um dos maiores problemas mundiais de saúde pública. Dentro do contexto das DTAs, a higiene pessoal e a manipulação inadequada de alimentos no ambiente doméstico têm sido apontadas como importantes fatores de risco para a ocorrência de surtos. Baseado nestas considerações, o presente projeto de extensão universitária foi desenvolvido no intuito de instruir crianças em idade escolar sobre a importância da higiene pessoal e da manipulação adequada de alimentos, de modo que estas disseminem a informação a seus pais e familiares. O projeto foi instituido em uma escola pública do município de Botucatu-SP e atingiu 491 crianças de 5 a 11 anos. As atividades foram aplicadas em três ações prioritárias, sendo elas: 1) Palestra introdutória lúdica e interativa; 2) Gincana com brincadeiras e atividades formativas práticas e; 3) Entrega de certificados de participação e uma cartilha contendo informações e jogos com enfoque nos assuntos abordados, de modo a possibilitar a disseminação das informações para os familiares e amigos dos participantes. Os alunos demonstraram grande interesse pelo assunto, enfatizando a importância dessa abordagem nas escolas. Foi possível promover, portando, educação em saúde de forma prazerosa, de modo a evitar doenças relacionadas à precária higiene pessoal e à manipulação incorreta de alimentos.

Foodborne diseases are usually caused by consuming foods that are stored at an inappropriate temperature. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of safe food temperature control among restaurant supervisors of Dammam city, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was carried out during January 2019 to May 2019. A close-ended questionnaire was used to assess knowledge and source of information about food temperature control from restaurant supervisors. The response rate of the study was 97 (80.8%). Demographic profile and knowledge scores of restaurant supervisors are reported as percentage. Chi-square test was used to compare group differences in knowledge. p value

International audience; Enteric viruses cause the majority of foodborne illnesses and common symptoms of many foodborne illnesses include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever. Among the enteric viruses, human Norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis virus (HAV and HEV) are the main viruses suspected to cause foodborne outbreaks and represent a serious public health. The study presents survey tools of viruses in a wide variety of foodstuffs and results obtained during 56 foodborne outbreaks investigation in France between 2012 and 2017. 246 suspected foods were examined for the presence of four human enteric viruses (NoV GI and NoV GII, HAV or HEV) either using methods described in the EN ISO 15216-1 or in house methods. All viral analysis of food samples were performed with the implementation of process control and an external amplification controls. Eighteen of 56 foodborne outbreaks investigated included at least one positive food sample (16/18 NoV, 1/18 HAV and 1/18 HEV). The genomic levels of four viruses detected ranged from < 102 to 107 genome copies per g or per L. This study showed the interest to develop methods for the extraction of viruses in different foodstuffs to increase the possibility to identify the association between viral illness and food consumption.

Non typhoidal Salmonella spp. are among the leading causes of foodborne illness in the U.S. Some 20% of foodborne illnesses attributed to Salmonella can be associated with poultry and poultry products. Industry efforts to lower the incidence of Salmonella have been successful, but the number of illnesses from contaminated poultry has not seen a concomitant drop. In this review, the historical background of Salmonella assessment in poultry at the processing plant will be presented along with the problems inherent with current methods. In addition, opportunities for improvement via the availability of emerging detection and identification technologies as well as other food safety measures that can be taken such as consumer education.

Foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria are being reported at an increasing rate in the United States. We performed a text-mining analysis to look at nearly 13,000 tweets from two foodborne Escherichia coli outbreaks in 2018. Concerns from the public included staying informed about contaminated lettuce, recognizing signs of infection, and holding responsible farms accountable. At the end of the second outbreak, comments were focused on assessing symptoms, using the traceback process to locate outbreak sources, and calling for better food labeling practices.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi uma revisão bibliográfica do estado atual e dos últimos anos de alimentos frescos como as hortaliças, sendo em sua maioria alface e couve consumidos in natura, dando ênfase a estudos de periódicos publicados nos últimos 20 anos considerando a presença de microrganismos como a coliformes a 45 ºC, Salmonella ssp, e variados fungos. O consumo de alimentos in natura nas últimas décadas sofreu um aumento considerável, por conta da busca pelo conhecimento da origem dos alimentos consumidos, principalmente em hortaliças. Em pequenas cidades o cultivo e comercialização de hortaliças e vegetais é realizada majoritariamente por famílias em suas hortas de pequeno porte, muitas das vezes, a céu aberto e na própria área urbana onde podem existir diversos risco para a produção desses alimentos naturais, como fossas, esgotos abertos e animais de rua, por esse motivo, esses vegetais estão sujeitos a contaminação por microrganismos oportunistas, como os coliformes a 45 ºC, Salmonella ssp e fungos. As infecções por decorrência de alimentos são comuns, e denominadas como doenças transmitidas por alimentos (DTAs). As DTAs são doenças que podem levar indivíduos a óbito. Conclui-se, que o controle de qualidade de alimentos está diretamente ligado a saúde, ou seja, um produto com qualidade e seguridade garante que menos surtos por doenças transmitidas por alimentos aconteçam, evitando de forma substancial a sobrecarga nos sistemas de saúde pública.

The growing popularity of unpasteurized milk in the United States raises public health concerns. We estimated outbreak-related illnesses and hospitalizations caused by the consumption of cow’s milk and cheese contaminated with Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter spp. using a model relying on publicly available outbreak data. In the United States, outbreaks associated with dairy consumption cause, on average, 760 illnesses/year and 22 hospitalizations/year, mostly from Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. Unpasteurized milk, consumed by only 3.2% of the population, and cheese, consumed by only 1.6% of the population, caused 96% of illnesses caused by contaminated dairy products. Unpasteurized dairy products thus cause 840 (95% CrI 611–1,158) times more illnesses and 45 (95% CrI 34–59) times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products. As consumption of unpasteurized dairy products grows, illnesses will increase steadily; a doubling in the consumption of unpasteurized milk or cheese could increase outbreak-related illnesses by 96%.

This study aimed to assess the foodborne diseases (FBD) outbreaks reported in Brazil between 2000 and 2018, based on data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health (official data) and from the scientific literature. According to official data, 13,163 FBD outbreaks were reported in the country during this period, involving 247,570 cases and 195 deaths. The largest prevalence of FBD outbreaks was observed in the Southeast region of Brazil (45.6%). In most outbreaks it was not possible to determine the food implicated (45.9%) but among those identified, water was the most frequently associated (12.0%). The etiological agent was not identified in most outbreaks (38.0%), while Salmonella (14.4%) was the most frequently reported, among those identified. Homes were the main site of FBD occurrence (12.5%). Regarding data obtained from the scientific literature, 57 articles dealing with FBD in the country throughout the same period were selected and analyzed. Based on these articles, mixed foods were the most prevalent in the outbreaks (31.6%), Salmonella spp. was the pathogen most frequently reported (22.8%) and homes were also the main site of FBD occurrence (45.6%). Despite under-notification, the records of FBD outbreaks that have occurred in Brazil in the past recent years show alarming data, requiring attention from health authorities. The notification of outbreaks is essential to facilitate public health actions.

Foodborne illness is a continuing public health problem in the United States. Although outbreak-associated illnesses represent a fraction of all foodborne illnesses, foodborne outbreak investigations provide critical information on the pathogens, foods, and food-pathogen pairs causing illness. Therefore, identification of a food source in an outbreak investigation is key to impacting food safety.The objective of this study was to systematically identify outbreak-associated case demographic and outbreak characteristics that are predictive of food sources using Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) outbreaks reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1998 to 2014 with a single ingredient identified.Differences between STEC food sources by all candidate predictors were assessed univariately. Multinomial logistic regression was used to build a prediction model, which was internally validated using a split-sample approach.There were 206 single-ingredient STEC outbreaks reported to CDC, including 125 (61%) beef outbreaks, 30 (14%) dairy outbreaks, and 51 (25%) vegetable outbreaks. The model differentiated food sources, with an overall sensitivity of 80% in the derivation set and 61% in the validation set.This study demonstrates the feasibility for a tool for public health professionals to rule out food sources during hypothesis generation in foodborne outbreak investigation and to improve efficiency while complementing existing methods.

About 1 in 6 people are sickened with foodborne diseases each year, and for the most part those illness bouts are a nuisance and self-limiting. However, for some vulnerable populations, severe foodborne illnesses can require hospital care and may even lead to death. Once an individual becomes sick enough to visit a physician, he or she typically collects a stool sample to send to a clinical microbiology laboratory for testing and diagnosis. If the clinical laboratory identifies an enteric pathogen, the physician is notified.

Objective To describe the use of an online survey tool to rapidly collect data from a large community outbreak of enteric illness in Toronto, Canada. Introduction In the early morning of Friday January 20, 2017, Toronto Public Health (TPH) was notified of several reports of acute vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain/cramps among students living in residence at a post-secondary institution in Toronto, Canada. A public health investigation was initiated and it was quickly determined that a large number of students and visitors to the campus were affected. Following considerable media coverage, TPH began receiving an overwhelmingly high volume of reports from ill individuals who lived, visited, or worked at the college campus and had experienced gastrointestinal illness. Methods GastroBusters – an established online foodborne illness reporting tool was quickly adapted to support the outbreak investigation. GastroBusters was rapidly updated to include a screening question allowing ill individuals connected with the outbreak location to self-identify and report their symptoms, onset dates and times, and food histories to TPH securely online. The necessary updates were developed, tested, and implemented in less than one hour. Ill individuals were directed to the GastroBusters website – tph.to/gastrobusters - by college administrators and through media messaging. Those who were ill and reported to TPH through other methods (e.g., by phone) were interviewed by TPH investigators to collect comparable data, which were entered by staff into an online survey that mirrored the structure of the GastroBusters questions. These two data sets were merged and descriptive analyses were conducted using MS Excel and SAS v9.2. Results In total, 354 reports associated with the outbreak were received by TPH - 232 who self-reported through GastroBusters, and 122 reported through other methods who were interviewed by TPH. Use of GastroBusters allowed ill individuals to report at a time convenient to them - 204 (88%) reports were submitted outside of TPH's business hours. As well, by providing ill individuals a method to self-report, TPH was able to rapidly collect, analyze and interpret data over the weekend while minimizing use of TPH staff resources. A summary report was available on Monday January 23, 2017 by 9:00 am, describing 236 confirmed and probable cases whose data were collected via both online surveys (GastroBusters and TPH data collection tool), between Friday and Sunday evenings. These data supported the hypothesis that the source of illness for the outbreak was likely norovirus; this was later confirmed through laboratory results. Conclusions This investigation provides a successful example of how an existing online reporting system for foodborne illness can be used for rapid data collection during a large-scale community enteric outbreak, where the exposed population could not be easily defined and the source of illness was unknown. Advantages of using this approach included: 1) rapid and robust data collection resulting in prompt analysis, and 2) efficient use of public health resources given the volume of reports otherwise processed by a public health investigator. Moreover, the investigation coincided with a weekend when there are fewer staff available and large amounts of overtime costs would have been accrued. TPH is currently developing standards for the use of similar tools in the future. References 1. Toronto [Internet]. Toronto: City of Toronto; c1998-2017. GastroBusters; [cited October 2, 2017]. Available from: tph.to/gastrobusters

Prefectural and municipal public health institutes are located in prefectures and ordinance-designated cities in Japan, and play a vital role in the regional surveillance of infectious diseases and foodborne illnesses. These institutes, in close cooperation with national institutes such as the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of Health Sciences, construct the national surveillance network for infectious diseases and their causative agents. Bacteriological examinations and studies on a variety of infectious diseases and foodborne illnesses are core activities of prefectural and municipal public health institutes, through which novel and important bacteriological findings have been acquired. In this article, we report the latest findings regarding bacteriological examinations/studies and interesting cases at these institutes, especially concerning foodborne illnesses, tuberculosis, and antimicrobial resistances.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0)., Eggs have a high nutritional value and are an important ingredient in many food products. Worldwide foodborne illnesses, such as salmonellosis linked to the consumption of eggs and raw egg products, are a major public health concern. This review focuses on previous studies that have investigated the procedures for the production of microbiologically safe eggs. Studies exploring pasteurization and decontamination methods were investigated. Gamma irradiation, freeze drying, hot air, hot water, infra-red, atmospheric steam, microwave heating and radiofrequency heating are all different decontamination methods currently considered for the production of microbiologically safe eggs. However, each decontamination procedure has different effects on the properties and constituents of the egg. The pasteurization processes are the most widely used and best understood; however, they influence the coagulation, foaming and emulsifying properties of the egg. Future studies are needed to explore combinations of different decontamination methods to produce safe eggs without impacting the protein structure and usability. Currently, eggs which have undergone decontamination processes are primarily used in food prepared for vulnerable populations. However, the development of a decontamination method that does not affect egg properties and functionality could be used in food prepared for the general population to provide greater public health protection.

Surveillance is defined as “the systematic ongoing collection, collation, and analysis of data for public health purposes and the timely dissemination of information for the assessment and the response as necessary.” The overall goal of surveillance is to use data to mainly identify foodborne disease outbreaks; identify high-risk groups, place (areas), and time; and to monitor and evaluate the public health program. Surveillance is a continuous cycle, which includes setting objectives, data collection, consolidation, data analysis, interpretation, evaluation, dissemination, and feedback. The integrated Disease Surveillance Project in India is an example of passive surveillance whereas, FoodNet is an example of active surveillance. A multipronged approach with an intersectorial coordination will go a long way in preventing and controlling foodborne illnesses.

Outbreak is any unusual occurrence of disease or health related events clearly in excess of the usual occurrence in a defined community, region or season. For diseases which are under elimination or eradication, even a single case is considered as an outbreak. Outbreak investigation is one of the most challenging tasks faced by a public health specialist. Outbreaks cannot always be predicted but recognition of early warning signs, timely and prompt investigations to identify the cause, and the use of specific preventive and control measures can reduce morbidity/mortality. The primary aim of an outbreak investigation is to control, limit the spread and identify strategies for prevention or elimination of the risk of such outbreaks in the future. Outbreak investigations involve multiple steps in identifying the source or agent involved in the outbreak. The role of descriptive and analytical epidemiology plays a major role in outbreak investigations. Preventive and control measures should be implemented immediately on preliminary investigation and should not be held up till finalization of investigation or the laboratory confirmation.

Overall incidence of foodborne gastroenteritis declined but remains high, and the incidence of salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis increased., Foodborne disease is a major public health problem worldwide. To examine changes in foodborne illness in Australia, we estimated the incidence, hospitalizations, and deaths attributed to contaminated food circa 2010 and recalculated estimates from circa 2000. Approximately 25% of gastroenteritis cases were caused by contaminated food; to account for uncertainty we used simulation techniques to estimate 90% credible intervals. We estimate that circa 2010, 4.1 million foodborne gastroenteritis cases occurred, and circa 2000, 4.3 million cases occurred. Circa 2010, contaminated food was estimated to be responsible for 30,840 gastroenteritis-associated hospitalizations, 76 associated deaths, and 5,140 nongastrointestinal illnesses. Cases of salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis increased from 2000 to 2010 and were the leading causes of gastroenteritis-associated hospitalizations; Listeria monocytogenes and nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. infections were the leading causes of death. Although the overall incidence of foodborne illnesses declined over time in Australia, cases of foodborne gastroenteritis are still common.

Background: Foodborne illnesses are significant public health issues given they contribute to increasing the global burden of diseases. Incidents of Food-borne diseases are increasing due to the presence of newly emerging pathogenesis. Appropriate diagnostic practices among physicians reduce the magnitude of the problem nationally. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the diagnostic practices of Foodborne illnesses among public and private primary health care physicians in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in thirty public and private primary health care centers in the city of Abha during the period of October 2017 to March 2018. A structured questionnaire was developed based on the previously published literature and was used to collect the data related to the diagnostic practices among the physicians. Results: One hundred and twenty-five physicians participated in this study. Approximately 49% of the physicians had ‘adequate’ diagnostic practicing skills. No significant difference in diagnostic practice of food-borne illness between the public and private health care physicians. However, the study found a positive correlation between the level of clinical practice, age, gender, area of speciality, years of experience and the number of patients per week. Conclusion: Given that the diagnostic practice skills among physicians were ‘adequate’, there has been a recommendation for newly hired physicians to enroll in a diagnosis and management of Foodborne diseases training program to improve their diagnostic practices.

Foodborne illnesses are among the most serious and costly public health problems. Increasing data suggest the existence of new diet-derived health concerns associated with gut microbiota, and prompt us to revolutionize the way we view modern food safety. This opinion paper focuses on some important issues about gut microbiota and food safety.

Submitted by Patrícia Correia (patriciacorreia@ua.pt) on 2019-03-06T12:28:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira et al. - 2011 - Microbial contamination and purification of bivalv.pdf: 282341 bytes, checksum: 111bde78e671926728282a3ea369936c (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Patrícia Correia (patriciacorreia@ua.pt) on 2019-03-06T12:28:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira et al. - 2011 - Microbial contamination and purification of bivalv.pdf: 282341 bytes, checksum: 111bde78e671926728282a3ea369936c (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2019-03-06T12:28:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira et al. - 2011 - Microbial contamination and purification of bivalv.pdf: 282341 bytes, checksum: 111bde78e671926728282a3ea369936c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 We gratefully acknowledged to Francisco N. V. Bernardino, from the Directorate General for Fisheries and Aquaculture – Salt and Aquaculture Division, for providing us some references. We also tank to Felipe Varum, Cindy Amador and Marc Steines the support given in the manuscript. The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology supported this work. published

This study examines food safety knowledge and practices of mothers in Saudi Arabia. A total of 979 respondents participated in the study and completed a questionnaire that assessed their knowledge of food storage, food handling, usage, and maintenance of kitchen facilities, personal hygiene, and food poisoning. Results showed that mothers in Saudi Arabia had moderate knowledge of food storage (passing rate 64.9%) and usage and maintenance of kitchen facilities (passing rate 66.5%). While they had good knowledge of personal hygiene (passing rate 83.8%) and food poisoning (passing rate 78.5%), their knowledge with regard to food handling was poor (passing rate 30.4%). Results also highlighted that food safety knowledge and practices amongst mothers in Saudi Arabia improved with the level of education, while their age, employment status, monthly income, and number of children had no significant association with their food safety knowledge and practices. This research revealed the importance of education and that advance education and training program can further improve mothers&rsquo, food safety knowledge and practices and thereby result in reducing the risks of foodborne illnesses at homes.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a human pathogen that is widely distributed in the marine environments. This organism is frequently isolated from a variety of raw seafoods, particularly shellfish. Consumption of raw or undercooked seafood contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus may lead to development of acute gastroenteritis characterized by diarrhea, headache, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal cramps. This pathogen is a common cause of foodborne illnesses in many Asian countries, including China, Japan and Taiwan, and is recognized as the leading cause of human gastroenteritis associated with seafood consumption in the United States. This review gives an overview of V. parahaemolyticus food poisoning and provides information on recent development in methods for detecting V. parahaemolyticus and strategies for reducing risk of V. parahaemolyticus infections associated with seafood consumption.

Food safety is a critical issue worldwide, and responsibility for ensuring and enhancing safety in the food chain is collectively shared by all involved, from producers to preparation to food service. Just over a century ago, the issues of food safety and production were brought to the forefront of public debate and action following the publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Public pressure and outrage rapidly catalyzed passage in 1906 of the “Pure Food and Drug Act,” which ushered in a new age of focusing on and improving food safety. Over the past 100 y, we have dramatically improved food safety, and, consequently, public health around the world has been enhanced (1, 2). Despite the tremendous success in reducing foodborne illnesses over time and the resources that have been devoted to eliminating foodborne pathogens, too many foodborne illnesses still occur each year. In PNAS, Schulz et al. (3) describe a method of controlling the critical foodborne pathogen enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC, such as the widely known E. coli O157:H7) using an antimicrobial protein (colicins) originally produced by nonpathogenic E. coli strains; but in this novel study, the colicins were instead produced by plants. This advance in antimicrobial protein production and delivery finally makes colicins available in quantities sufficient to be used as a weapon specifically targeted at EHEC, but can also be used to reduce other foodborne pathogens in a variety of food production environments.

Foodservice professionals, politicians, and the media are often cited making claims as to which locations most often expose consumers to foodborne pathogens. Many times, it is implied that most foodborne illnesses originate from food consumed where dishes are prepared to order, such as restaurants or in private homes. The manner in which the question is posed and answered frequently reveals a speculative bias that either favors homemade or foodservice meals as the most common source of foodborne pathogens. Many answers have little or no scientific grounding, while others use data compiled by passive surveillance systems. Current surveillance systems focus on the place where food is consumed rather than the point where food is contaminated. Rather than focusing on the location of consumption-and blaming consumers and others-analysis of the steps leading to foodborne illness should center on the causes of contamination in a complex farm-to-fork food safety system.

Issue Food Safety and Nutrition Services (FSNS) in Italian National Health Service is the public organization aimed at combining safety, nutritional values and at promoting healthy dietary habits. Problem Food safety, food security and good nutrition are fundamental conditions for good health. To implement the best practices both in the field of food safety and in that of public health nutrition, the FSNS are organized in 2 sections: “Food and beverage …

Foodborne disease is an important public health problem in the United States, with an estimated 9.4 million domestically acquired illnesses and 1351 deaths from known pathogens each year [1]. The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) tracks important foodborne illnesses, generating information that provides a foundation for food safety policy and prevention efforts. FoodNet has provided information that contributes to food safety efforts by estimating numbers of foodborne illnesses, monitoring trends in incidence of specific foodborne illnesses over time, attributing illnesses to specific foods and settings, and disseminating information [2, 3]. Since it started in 1996, FoodNet has been an excellent example of partnership among federal and state agencies (Figure 1). This Clinical Infectious Diseases supplement contains a variety of articles that provide new information on current issues; together, they highlight FoodNet’s central role in US surveillance and investigation of foodborne disease.

An estimated 4 million bacterial foodborne illnesses occur in the United States annually. Many of these illnesses can be prevented by educating the public about food-safety practices. We investigated both the role of physicians as food-safety educators and the barriers to providing food-safety information. Participants were randomly selected physicians (n = 3117) practicing within the surveillance area of the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network; 1100 were included in the study. Although only 331 (30%) of 1110 respondents provided food-safety information to their patients, 524 (68%) of 769 who did not provide information expressed interest in doing so. Physicians were more likely to provide food-safety information to patients if they perceived foodborne disease to be a serious problem, perceived food-safety education as their role, felt that patients perceived them as a valuable resource for food-safety advice, or felt comfortable making food-safety recommendations. A national physician education campaign that addresses barriers in food-safety education could improve food-safety education by physicians.

Foodborne illnesses continue to cause substantial morbidity and mortality in the United States, primarily as gastroenteritis but occasionally as other syndromes as well. Most of these illnesses are caused by a variety of widely known infectious agents, principally viruses, and are probably the result of common mistakes in food handling in the home or in restaurants. The epidemiology of foodborne illness is evolving. Major changes in food production, distribution, and consumption have created opportunities for new pathogens to emerge and for old ones to reemerge, and the potential for widespread outbreaks is increasing. Antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens resulting from the widespread use of antimicrobial agents in animal husbandry is also an important concern. Clinicians must be aware of the changing epidemiology of foodborne illness to recognize and manage these conditions in the clinical setting. In addition, clinicians are critical in the reporting of recognized or suspected foodborne illness, so that public health authorities are able to investigate, understand, and ultimately better control them. A number of new techniques have been employed, and others under development will improve our ability to recognize and cope with foodborne diseases.

Public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga., last December revised their estimates of U.S. foodborne illnesses, saying that 48 million individuals, or about 17%, are sickened each year, leading to about 3,000 fatalities. These revised statistics are the latest is a series of developments involving food safety. Prominent among them is a major legislative overhaul that provides officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with greater authority and resources to address national food-safety needs. Amid those two major developments are several noteworthy but more narrowly focused developments that deal specifically with meat safety.

The operation and patronage of fast-food joints, restaurants, and chop bars have increased and become common in the Ghanaian community, especially, in urban areas. Despite the benefits derived from these food joints, their operation raises public health issues, since food vendors could be a major transmission source for infections. Poor knowledge of hygiene and practices in food service establishments can contribute to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

Foodborne disease in the United States costs billions of dollars annually because of increased morbidity and mortality, time lost in the workplace, and reduced productivity (Archer and Kvenberg 1985). Because outbreaks of foodborne illnesses may be underreported by as much as a factor of 30 (Hauschild and Bryan 1980), the number of cases of gastroenteritis associated with food was estimated to be between 68 million and 275 million per year (Archer and Kvenberg 1985). Even at the lower end of this range, foodborne disease would be a major public health problem. From 1983 through 1987, 2397 outbreaks (54,453 cases) of foodborne illness were reported to the Centers for Disease Control (Bean et al. 1990). Of these, the causative agent was confirmed in only 910 cases (38%).