CDC & Food Safety

On the Road

CDC experts saw first-hand, the progress in food safety from labs in China to fields in California.

China has made tremendous progress since 2006 in testing for Salmonella in Shanghai, Guangdong, Henan, and Jiangsu provinces. Started from scratch, laboratories in these provinces can now successfully conduct Pulsed-field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis to detect foodborne outbreaks from Salmonella.
“Detecting outbreaks is the first step towards prevention”, says CDC foodborne expert, Dr. Robert Tauxe. Read more in: Laboratory-Based Surveillance of Non-typhoidal Salmonella Infections in Guangdong Province, China.
CDC joined 23 federal partners from FDA, USDA, EPA, Department of State, Department of Interior, International Trade Commission, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Executive Office for a one-week educational exchange examining key California agricultural issues from trade to food safety.
The theme, “Technology of the Future in Use Today,” covered priorities around water (supply, quality, flooding), air, labor, food safety, pest exclusion, crop protection, trade, conservation resources, and environmental issues. This is the 32nd class of fellows. See video clip and local story: Federal regulators receive hands-on ag lessons.

* This outbreak falls under the jurisdiction of CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria.

** This outbreak falls under the jurisdiction of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis.

Key CDC publications during August-September include:

Food Safety

This chapter, authored by CDC food safety experts, surveys emerging trends in surveillance, analyses, antimicrobial resistance, pathogen subtyping and other food-safety issues and threats. It appears in the publication, Foodborne Illness: Latest Threats and Emerging Issues. Emerging Trends in Foodborne Diseases.

Outbreak Detection

The first FoodCORE Model Practice: Initial Case-patient Interviewing describes the basic practices and characteristics of conducting comprehensive interviews for all enteric disease case-patients upon initial identification or first contact. See also Year One Summary Report and Cumulative Year One SSL metrics table.

New Subspecies of Campylobacter fetus

Recently, illness caused by subspecies of the less common Camplylobacter fetus has been reported for nine patients and might have come from exposure to traditional Asian foods or live reptiles. Persons at risk should avoid eating undercooked reptiles and should avoid live reptiles and their environments. Human Infections with New Subspecies of Campylobacter fetus.

Listeriosis

Preventing produce contamination within farm and processing environments is vital, as highlighted in this article examining the nationwide listeriosis outbreak in 2011 associated with cantaloupe.Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Associated with Cantaloupe.

Salmonella

After examining an outbreak of Salmonella linked to not-ready-to-eat frozen pot pies, researchers found that most patients did not follow the product’s cooking instructions and did not know their oven’s wattage. Outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype I 4,5,12:i:- infections: the challenges of hypothesis generation and microwave cooking.

Researchers examined an outbreak of Salmonella enterica in North Carolina from unpasteurized tempeh and concluded that tempeh is a novel food vehicle for S. enterica infection.
Gastroenteritis outbreak associated with unpasteurized tempeh, North Carolina.

Dangerous Raw Oysters podcastHear about the dangers of eating unprocessed raw oysters and treatment methods for killing these potentially dangerous bacteria. Read more about this topic: Impact of 2003 State Regulation on Raw Oyster–associated Vibrio vulnificus Illnesses and Deaths, California, USA.
Food Poisoning Learn the risks and consequences of food poisoning in CDC’s current feature and in the fun, new web series, Recipes for Disaster – a fictional cooking show where the host, Maria, unintentionally makes common food safety mistakes when preparing her dishes.