From 2001 to 2010, the latest 10-year period for which data is available, outbreaks related to E. coli, Salmonella, and other dangerous pathogens appear to have decreased by more than 40%.
Better food safety practices, notably the adoption of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programmes in the meat, poultry, and seafood industries, may have contributed to the decline, says CSPI.
But the group cautions that incomplete reporting of outbreaks by understaffed and financially stretched public health agencies may also influence the data.
Foodborne illness is already notoriously underreported, says CSPI, since most people do not seek medical treatment for typical cases of food poisoning. But another trend the group has observed is a decline in the extent to which reports of foodborne illness outbreaks are fully investigated.
An outbreak is considered fully investigated when both the food and the pathogen responsible for the illnesses are identified. But during the 10-year period, the percentage of fully investigated outbreaks decreased from 46% in 2001 to 33% in 2010.
Seafood, poultry, and beef showed the sharpest decline in the number of reported outbreaks in the study period; the trend line is less steep, but still downward, for the numbers of illnesses linked to those outbreaks.
Outbreaks related to produce, which is responsible for more illnesses than any other category of food, have remained relatively flat. Illnesses related to dairy actually reached their highest point in 2010, the last year of the study period.
Source: CSPI
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