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\n\n \n In 2019, there were a number of high profile food recalls, including a nationwide recall of romain lettuce, and millions of pounds of chicken products contaminated with metal, plastic and other material.\n<\/div>\n

\n\n \n WRAL Channel 5 News, WRIC Channel 8 News, WRAL Channel 5 News, CBS This Morning\n<\/div>\n

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\n\n \n Our food safety systems: more improvements needed\n<\/div>\n

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In 2011, the United States made significant upgrades to the food safety system by passing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This law, pushed through in the wake of a number of significant food recalls, required enhanced tracking of foodborne illness outbreaks and improved oversight of the food production system, putting in place preventive controls and updated FDA recall authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

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\n\n \n New food safety plans are helping\n<\/div>\n

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However, Congress failed to update safety standards for meat and poultry monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The bifurcated food safety system has caused inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination and inefficient use of resources.\u00a0Food recalls can provide insight into the health of our food safety infrastructure. Each recall is an instance when the system failed to prevent contamination, putting people\u2019s health at risk.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

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\n\n \n Our research shows diverging trends in recalls of meat and poultry, compared to processed foods between 2013 and 2019.\n<\/div>\n

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\n\n \n *Recalls that are most likely to cause a health hazard or death are classified as \u201cClass 1\u201d recalls.\n<\/div>\n

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The enhanced ability to link infections together and trace them back to the source over the last decade through new technology, such as whole genome sequencing, may explain some of these findings. But whether we\u2019ve always had a food safety problem and now we can see it, or the problem is getting worse in recent years, misses the point. Americans should be confident that their food is safe and uncontaminated from dangerous bacteria like E. coli<\/em> and salmonella<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In addition, the number of recent high-profile recalls that stick in the public mind are the tip of the iceberg. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 in 6 people in the U.S. get foodborne illnesses with 128,000 individuals hospitalized and 3,000 dying every year. These infections include E. coli<\/em> and salmonella<\/em> poisoning as well as Clostridium<\/em>, Campylobacter<\/em> and Toxoplasma<\/em> gondii<\/em>. The cumulative public health risk of foodborne illness warrants further study into causes and solutions.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

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