Recalls and food safety Russell Lilly Department of Health and Senior services

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 654,000 Cancer 550,000 Stroke 150,000 Accidents 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

– 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 2004-19

2001-21 2005-20

2002-29 2006-7

2003-16 YTD 2007-7

Notable food outbreaks/recalls

Milk 1986– 16,000 cases of salmonella

Ice Cream 1994– 224,000 cases of salmonella

Cereal 1998– 200 cases of salmonella

Notable food outbreaks/recalls

Hamburger 1997– 20 cases of E-coli 25,000,000 pounds recalled

Spinach 2006– 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 HACCP, Risk based inspections, safe handling instructions, Salmonella enteritidis risk assessment

FDA 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– 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– Know about recalls

Take recalls seriously– 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