More and more often, we hear news of an outbreak of a foodborne illness or food recall. Has something changed? Well, yes… actually, several things.

There are several reasons why we hear of more food recalls. One reason is better surveillance and detection by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 strives to ensure that the United States food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from one of responding to contamination events to that of preventing food contamination. This shift in the law gave the FDA new authority to regulate the way our food is grown, harvested and processed. It also included mandatory recall authority.

But what else has changed? Our food supply has dramatically changed over the years. We now have a global food supply with new food production and processing methods. Americans want convenience and time-saving food packaging, so processing includes things like pre-cut carrots, bagged produce and sous vide packaging. Demand has also increased for year-round, fresh produce and for minimally processed and ethnic foods. 

Other changes have taken place also, with microorganisms evolving over time and an “at risk” population surge that corresponds to the aging Baby Boomer generation. 

So, who is keeping track of foodborne illness outbreaks? There are several government agencies responsible for the surveillance of our food supply. One is FoodNet, which is a collaboration between FDA, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and several state health departments that provide an annual report of food safety in the United States. 

Remember, the United States food supply chain is one of the safest in the world, but we need to take responsibility of how we handle the foods we purchase and bring into our homes. We need to be diligent following proper food handling practices by following the food safety guidelines of:

1. Clean
2. Separate
3. Cook 
4. Chill

Food safety is important for everyone, and everyone needs to take responsibility for safe food handling procedures. 

To learn more, visit my food safety blog posts at https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/tag/foodsafety.

RESOURCES

• foodsafety.gov
• cdc.gov/foodsafety
• fightbac.org

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