Epidemiology of Foodborne Illness—Role of Food Irradiation

Abstract

Foodborne illness is a serious problem throughout the world. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million illnesses and almost 5,000 deaths per year can be attributed to food-related hazards. U.S. estimates of the annual cost of medical treatment and lost productivity vary widely, from $6.6 billion to $37.1 billion from the seven major foodborne pathogens. Only a fraction of the people who experience foodborne illness seek medical care. In those who do seek care, and who submit stool specimens, bacterial agents are most often determined to be the cause of the illness. The bacterial agents most often identified in patients with foodborne illness in the United States are Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Shigella species, although substantial variation occurs by geographic area and season. Although testing for viral etiologies of diarrheal disease is rarely done, viruses are considered to be the most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Irradiation of foods, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1997 and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service in 1999 for use on raw meat and meat products, has the potential to reduce the risk of foodborne illness in the United States.