Abstract
Recent public health concerns regarding commercial food products have increased the need to develop an automated method to detect food product-related health events. We developed and verified a method for the early detection of potentially harmful events caused by commercial food products. We collected data from daily internet-based questionnaires examining the presence or absence of symptoms and information about food purchased by the respondents. Using these data, we developed a method to detect possible health concerns regarding commercialized food products. To achieve this, we combined the signal detection method used in the reporting system of adverse effects of pharmaceutical products and the Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) used by the United States Centers for Disease Control. Whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), which had odds ratio and Odds(−) of 8.99 and 4.13, respectively, was identified as a possible causative food product for diarrhea and vomiting. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that food distributors can implement post-marketing monitoring of the safety of food products purchased via the internet.
Highlights
Hygienic management of food products is important to humans
We examined whether a method that is already used clinically to detect adverse effects of pharmacological products can be applied to the early detection of potentially harmful events related to post-marketing food products
The present study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing post-marketing surveillance (PMS) of food products purchased via the internet
Summary
Hygienic management of food products is important to humans. In the United States (US), the National Strategy for Biosurveillance was implemented in 2012 to enable the early detection of health concerns related to food [1]. The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (known as FoodNet), an emerging infection program, has implemented active epidemiological surveys to detect emerging infections; this has been done in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [2]. To detect and manage food poisoning at an early stage, it is necessary to monitor the causative pathogen and the contaminated food. The incidence and distribution of food poisoning cases have increased in recent years because foods produced in one location are sold in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156395. The incidence and distribution of food poisoning cases have increased in recent years because foods produced in one location are sold in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156395 May 27, 2016
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