Beef Not Even in Top 10 of Food Safety Concerns

Paul Slayton
Pennsylvania Beef Council
Beef isn’t the only part of the food industry faced with safety concerns. The Center For Science In The Public Interest (CSPI) released their list of the Top 10 riskiest FDA-regulated foods include leafy greens, eggs and tuna. While the beef industry is regulated by USDA, not FDA, food safety concerns are growing in all areas of the country.
Here is the list:
1. Leafy Greens: 363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness
2. Eggs: 352 outbreaks involving 11,163 reported cases of illness
3. Tuna: 268 outbreaks involving 2,341 reported cases of illness
4. Oysters: 132 outbreaks involving 3,409 reported cases of illness
5. Potatoes: 108 outbreaks involving 3,659 reported cases of illness
6. Cheese: 83 outbreaks involving 2,761 reported cases of illness
7. Ice Cream: 74 outbreaks involving 2,594 reported cases of illness
8. Tomatoes: 31 outbreaks involving 3,292 reported cases of illness
9. Sprouts: 31 outbreaks involving 2,022 reported cases of illness
10. Berries: 25 outbreaks involving 3,397 reported cases of illness.
The report, which goes farther into detail on each of the top ten items also notes: “Illnesses caused by these ten foods may be as minor as stomach cramps and diarrhea for a day or two, or as serious as kidney failure or death. Notably, pathogens most commonly associated with meat and poultry — such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H73 — also have been repeatedly linked to these food items. In fact, Salmonella was identified as the cause in 33 percent of the outbreaks from the FDA Top Ten. Other pathogens causing the outbreaks associated with these foods include Campylobacter, Scombrotoxin, Norovirus, and Vibrio.”
CSPI used data from their Outbreak Alert! Database, which includes outbreaks from 1990 to 2006, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources to compile this report.