Foodborne Disease: The Global Movement of Food and People

Abstract

Foodborne illness afflicts people throughout the world. The food safety systems in some countries afford better consumer protection than others. This situation, combined with differing climates and ecologies, results in the association of different types of foodborne illness with different regions of the world. In a global economy, both people and food travel the world. With this travel comes the potential for patients to acquire unexpected diseases. Clinicians need to consider foreign travel as well as the consumption of food from other parts of the world when determining the cause of foodborne disease.