The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), is a Washington, D.C.-base non-profit organization concerned with public health, nutrition, and food safety issues. The organization has been around since 1971 and is supported primarily by subscribers. Disclaimers aside, this organization has put together a list everyone should pay attention to. Especially as we head out to the weekend.The report: The Ten Riskiest Foods Regulated by the Food and Drug Regulation (FDA). The foods that encompass this list account for 40 percent of all foodborne outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated foods since 1990, as tracked by CSPI. CSPI used date from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and from elsewhere. More than “1,500 separate, definable outbreaks were linked to the FDA Top Ten, with almost 50,000 illnesses reported" ranging from cramps to death. Due to the infrequency with which people visit doctors over ailments from food, these finding “represent only the tip of the iceberg of foodborne illness. In fact, in 1999, the CDC estimated that for each case of salmonella that is clinically diagnosed and reported to health offices, another 38 cases were unreported.”
Here are the top ten. All this information is coming directly from the CSPI: Leafy Greens (363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness; Eggs (352 outbreaks involving 11,162 reported cases of illness; Tuna (268 outbreaks . . . ); Oysters (132 outbreaks . . . ); Potatoes (108 outbreaks . . .); Cheese (83 outbreaks . . .); Ice Cream (74 outbreaks . . .); Tomatoes (31 outbreaks . . .); Sprouts (31 Outbreaks . . . ); and Berries (25 Outbreaks . . .).
This news highlights the efforts of CSPI and other groups to push through food safety legislation as the House of Representatives did with the Food Safety Enhancement Act.
To see a copy of the report click here:
Posted: 10/09/09
