Recalls and food safety Russell Lilly Department of Health and Senior services What we will discuss Relative risk and risk / benefit analysis All about.
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Transcript Recalls and food safety Russell Lilly Department of Health and Senior services What we will discuss Relative risk and risk / benefit analysis All about.
Recalls and food safety
Russell Lilly
Department of Health
and Senior services
What we will discuss
Relative risk and risk / benefit analysis
All about food recalls
What we are doing about it
Answer some specific questions
Is it OK to eat fresh veggies?
Absolutely
–
They are good for you
In the news
Corporate Agribusiness Is Behind Our Deadly Food
Supply
Amid high-profile food recalls, FDA
inspections languish
"We have a food safety crisis on the horizon," said
Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food
Safety at the University of Georgia.
"Our food safety structure is collapsing and
endangering public health," said
Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of
Connecticut,
How bad is it?
76,000,000 illnesses
325,000 hospitalizations
5,000 deaths
Some perspective
Causes of Death
Heart Disease
Cancer
Stroke
Accidents
654,000
550,000
150,000
109,000
Foodborne illness
5,000
–
.2%
Our history
1900 Typhoid rate 100/100,000
1950 Typhoid rate 1.7/100/000
Ten Great Public Health
Achievements -- United States,
1900-1999
A bigger threat?
Bioterrorism and the Food Supply
By Kevin Coleman , Technolytics
October 01, 2004
Some risk is unavoidable
Breakdowns and mistakes in processing
Sometimes where we least expect it
How much food do we eat?
23,000,000,000 pounds of fresh fruit
55,250,000,000 pounds of vegetables
58,250,000,000 pounds of milk and cream
78,000,000,000 pounds of red meat
How much risk?
273,750,000,000 Meals per year
76,000,000 illnesses is
–
–
.028%
Or 1 in 3,600 meals cause illness
Our food supply is safe…
Abundant
And Cheap
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11% of disposable income
2 billion people will go to bed hungry tonight
What is a food recall
When a company voluntarily has it’s product
removed from distribution because of a
problem
How many food recalls do we have
Nationwide about 188 per year
Missouri numbers
2000-28
2001-21
2002-29
2003-16
2004-19
2005-20
2006-7
YTD 2007-7
Notable food outbreaks/recalls
Milk 1986
–
Ice Cream 1994
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16,000 cases of salmonella
224,000 cases of salmonella
Cereal 1998
–
200 cases of salmonella
Notable food outbreaks/recalls
Hamburger 1997
–
Spinach 2006
–
20 cases of E-coli 25,000,000 pounds recalled
200 cases of E-coli
4 last week
–
–
–
–
Peanut Butter - Salmonella
Cantaloupe - Salmonella
Baby food - Clostridium Botulinum
Chicken breast strips - Lysteria
Spinach outbreak
Is it safe to eat spinach again?
Unusual outbreak/recall
Sep 14 FDA warning- do not eat any…
Sep 29 update, warning limited to one parent
firm and four others receiving their product
As soon as it reappeared in the distribution
chain it would have been from safe sources
What is the government going to do
about it?
A lot
Food safety staff in Missouri
–
–
–
–
–
USDA dozens to hundreds
MoAg
10
FDA
10
State Health 10
Local Health 200
What have we done?
USDA/MoAg
FDA
HACCP, Risk based
inspections, safe handling
instructions, Salmonella
enteritidis risk assessment
Produce initiative – Good
agricultural practices
Sprouts – sample irrigation
water, Juice/seafood HACCP
What have we done?
DHSS/LPHA’s
Increased capacity,
HACCP, Risk based
inspections, 1999 food
code – no bare hand
contact- ill employee
policies
HACCP
A way to look at food safety, focuses on food
process not facility requirements
–
–
Looks at what can go wrong and prevents it
Involves critical limits, corrective actions and record
keeping
I have seen the results first hand
Do regulations cover
transportation?
Yes, and we have discovered problems
There have also been problems at the
producer, supermarket, restaurant and in home
levels too…
Food Recalls are increasing
Does that mean…
–
The system is broken?
–
The system is working?
Why are there more recalls
We eat more food
Better surveillance
We look for more things
The food industry has changed
More risk advert companies
Foodborne illness surveillance
Our capacity has increased greatly
–
–
Lab detection capabilities
Computer tracking and matching
We might have not found the peanut butter 10
years ago
Number one reason for recalls
Undeclared allergens
–
–
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Not the same as intolerances
Involve the immune system
Can be life threatening
Were largely ignored 30
years ago
The food industry has changed
80% of the nations lettuce comes from the
Salinas Valley in California
Large food processing plants can assemble
ingredients from all over the country and then
distribute finished product just as widely
With our litigious society
Companies want to avoid the risk of being
sued
–
Sometimes they throw away food we would let them
keep after a transportation accident
–
More likely to recall product
What we can do
Be aware
–
Take recalls seriously
–
Know about recalls
Don’t eat food involved in a recall
Practice safe food handling practices
–
–
Check temperatures
Don’t cross contaminate
We want to avoid
Fear
Panic
Alarmism
We want to promote
Confidence
Vigilance
Personal responsibility
Where to get Recall information
http://www.recalls.gov/food.html
The risk of not eating…
Far exceeds the risk of eating