Washington, D.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released preliminary data documenting trends in foodborne illness. Much work remains to protect the public from unsafe food. The new data show Salmonella and Campylobacter continue to cause the most foodborne illness in the U.S., and progress in reducing foodborne illness in general has stalled.
Compared to a baseline period of 2014-2016, the preliminary data from 2017 shows increases in foodborne illnesses associated with several reported pathogens, most notably Campylobacter, Listeria, and certain types (non-O157) of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections. The data shows a significant decrease in illnesses from certain strains of Salmonella, but these are offset by increases in illnesses caused by other Salmonella strains, resulting in a 5% decrease overall. On the other hand, Campylobacter illnesses rose 10% in 2017 as compared to 2014-2016.
“This data shows we need to do more to protect Americans from unsafe food,” said the Director of CFA’s Food Policy Institute, Thomas Gremillion. “The steep increase in campylobacteriosis is particularly concerning. Campylobacter affects millions of people every year and often causes serious long-term health impacts. The Salmonella data gives some cause for optimism, but it’s too early to tell whether it will be sustained.”
CDC attributed some of the increases in reported illnesses to changes in diagnostic testing and reporting. However, for some pathogens, such as Listeria, which caused 26% more illnesses in 2017 as compared to 2014-206, the vast majority of infections continue to be diagnosed by culture rather the new “culture-independent diagnostic tests.” “There is more to the story here than just a shift to culture independent diagnostic testing,” said Gremillion.
Among the sharpest upticks recorded in the data was the number of Yersinia infections recorded in 2017, which exceeded 2014-2016 levels by 166%. Yersiniosis is an infection caused most often by eating pork. The lack of progress in reducing illness from this pathogens is particularly concerning as the Food Safety and Inspection Service is seeking to implement a new inspection program for swine, yet the agency has almost no data on how the proposed program will actually affect microbiological contamination rates on pork.
Contact: Thomas Gremillion 202-939-1010