The CDC has just released a 10-state study, Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food — 10 States, 2008, the conclusions of which I have suspected for some time (and our busy law practice at Marler Clark has confirmed)–illness related to foodborne pathogens is NOT decreasing.
As the study’s authors state, “progress toward the national health objectives has plateaued, suggesting that fundamental problems with bacterial and parasitic contamination are not being resolved…The lack of recent progress toward the national health objective targets and the occurrence of large multistate outbreaks point to gaps in the current food safety system and the need to continue to develop and evaluate food safety practices as food moves from the farm to the table. “
In the past two years alone we’ve had two huge peanut-related Salmonella outbreaks, and now another is emerging related to pistachio nuts. When are food companies that sell these products to the trusting (but decreasingly so) public going to step up to the plate? Perhaps when they too start falling ill from consuming their own products.