CDC says food-borne illness situations fewer than earlier estimated

Food-borne sickness does not make as many Americans ill every year than was previously calculated by the Centers for Disease Control. The number of food-borne illness instances on a yearly basis was ratcheted down in Center for Disease Control estimates. The report was unveiled a few days before a food safety bill was killed in Congress, which led several to accuse the CDC of playing politics. Timing could indeed save a number of people from taking out a pay day loan for marketing.

Study on CDC food-borne illness

Each year in the United States, you will find about 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses, as outlined by a December 15 record released by the CDC. During the time the Congress argued the food safety bill, 3,000 died and 128,000 were hospitalized from eating tainted food. This was what the report said as it was published within the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. Since 1999, the official CDC food-borne illness estimate was 76 million cases, 350,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. Lab confirmed food borne illness cases were used in 10 states for national estimates in both of the CDC studies. They almost always used telephone surveys. CDC made some things clear in the record. The fact that lower numbers doesn't mean less of a problem was emphasized.

Food-borne illness report full of unknowns

How much isn't known about the problem is what Food Safety experts say the CDC food borne illness numbers show. The record said about 38 million cases — four-fifths of the total estimate — are caused by “unspecified agents.”. Unspecified agents might be unknown pathogens or chemicals used in food processing yet to be identified as harmful. A lot of guesswork was put to the science, according to CDC. It is interesting to determine how the 28 million food borne illnesses estimate came about. It is the median range from 29 million to 71 million. The CDC said it will get more specific about what types of pathogens, in what foods, can be attributed to those numbers in a report next year.

Food safety bill dead

The CDC record on food borne illnesses was likely times to go with the Congress food safety bill debate, some expert believe. The food safety bill was killed on December 16 in congress by republicans. This was along with the spending bill. The Food Safety News had a doctor being interviewed and being asked about this since a year ago the CDC report to Emerging Infectious Diseases was submit. Passing the food safety bill would give the FDA a lot more freedom. It would be able to investigate food manufacturer records, quarantine geographical regions and even recall tainted food whenever it felt necessary. Republicans plan to stop the food safety bill although Democrats say they will make it go through.

Citations

Food Safety News

foodsafetynews.com/2010/12/why-now-was-cdcs-timing-on-estimates-political/

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/12/16/business/16illness.html

The Hill

thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/food-safety/134201-democrats-havent-given-up-on-food-safety