The number of food-borne illnesses in the United States has for the most part remained stagnant over the past three years, but in some cases it has been on the upswing. This gives new urgency to efforts to reform the nation's food safety system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"We need greater effort at all stages of movement of food in the food chain from farm to table," said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC's Division of Food-borne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases.
Preliminary 2008 data show that infection rates for five food-borne illnesses exceeded national goals set by the CDC. In the case of salmonella, the national goal in 2008 was seven illnesses for every 100,000 people, but the actual number was 16 -- more than twice as much. The data did not even include the ongoing national outbreak of salmonella illness linked to peanut products that began in late 2008.