Report: “None to Very Slight” Improvement by U.S. Authorities in Reaching Foodborne Illness Control Goals

U.S. health authorities have made “none to only a very slight” improvement in reaching foodborne illness control goals, according to a new report published in the Journal of Food Protection this month.

The report looks at the result of forty years of tracking progress towards foodborne disease reduction goals by the Healthy People (HP) Initiative, a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and various public and private organizations. The initiative pursues national health objectives with 10-year targets to achieve by the end of the decade.

The report found that progress has failed to reach goals on reducing four foodborne pathogens (Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, and Salmonella) and that for each pathogen the final progress status is either “getting worse” or “no detectable changes as compared to the baseline.”

“The most recent data available for HP2030 indicates no detectable change in salmonellosis incidence but indicates increasing incidence of listeriosis, campylobacteriosis, and STEC infection,” the authors of the report wrote.

Since 1996, the initiative has used data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) - a collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service and 10 different state health departments.

The data found that among those four main pathogens:

• Campylobacter infections rose from the target of 10.9 per 100,000 to 20.6
• STEC rose from 4.6 to 5.7, with a target of 3.7
• Listeria Monocytogenes increased from 0.27 to 0.36, over the target of 0.22
• Salmonella rose from 15.3 to 15.2, over a target of 11.5

The figures show that in the Healthy People 2000 figures - which were set in the incidence year of 1987- the baseline for Salmonella was 18 with a target of 16. In 2024, the figure was shown to be 15.3, with a target of 11.5. In other words, 40 years later, the baseline remains relatively unchanged.

The report notes that this may reflect better surveillance methods and greater availability of culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDT) rather than actual progress.

Attorney General: FDA Can Alter Regulations to Disclose Details on Foodborne Illness 

On Tuesday, the U.S. The Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel published an opinion that stated that the FDA can alter its regulations to publish details about companies involved in foodborne illness outbreaks.

The opinion, authored by William D. Hyde, Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel notes that “Current FDA regulations generally do not authorize government disclosure of supply chain information for purposes of the Trade Secrets Act,” and quotes James Madison about the importance of an informed citizenry.

“The FDA has statutory authority to amend its regulations to allow broader disclosure of supply chain information in situations involving imminent danger to health, or gross deception of the consumer. Under properly issued regulations, such disclosure would not violate the Trade Secrets Act but would instead be authorized by law,” Hyde wrote.

In other food safety news, earlier this month Gallup released the results of a new survey that found that American consumer confidence in the safety of food sold at grocery stores has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded by the organization, with only 65% saying they feel very or somewhat confident.

The results show a rise from 73% last year and a steep drop from 81% in 2019. The survey also showed that the percentage who are “not too confident” or “not at all confident” has risen from 18% to 34%.

The survey also found that Americans have less confidence in the federal government’s ability to ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply. A record low of 11% said they have a great deal of confidence in the federal government’s ability to ensure food safety and 36% said they have a fair amount of confidence in the federal government. This is dramatically less than the 85% who expressed confidence in the federal government’s ability to secure food safety in 2004.