Outbreaks where food workers have been implicated in the spread of foodborne disease. Part 1. Description of the problem, methods, and agents involved.
Food workers in many settings have been responsible for foodborne disease outbreaks for decades, and there is no indication that this is diminishing. The Committee on Control of Foodborne Illnesses of the International Association for Food Protection was tasked with collecting and evaluating any data on worker-associated outbreaks. A total of 816 reports with 80,682 cases were collected from events that occurred from 1927 until the first quarter of 2006. Most of the outbreaks reviewed were from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia, with relatively few from other parts of the world, indicating the skewed set of data because of availability in the literature or personal contact. Outbreaks were caused by 14 agents: norovirus or probable norovirus (338), Salmonella enterica (151), hepatitis A virus (84), Staphylococcus aureus (53), Shigella spp. (33), Streptococcus Lancefield groups A and G (17), and parasites Cyclospora, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium (23). Streptococcal, staphylococcal, and typhoid outbreaks seem to be diminishing over time; hepatitis A virus remains static, whereas norovirus and maybe nontyphoidal Salmonella are increasing. Multiple foods and multi-ingredient foods were identified most frequently with outbreaks, perhaps because of more frequent hand contact during preparation and serving.
Public Health Agency of Canada, Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, 160 Research Lane, Unit 206, Guelph, Ontario, Canada NIG 5B2.
Judy D
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Greig
Ewen C D
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Todd
Charles A
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Bartleson
Barry S
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Michaels
D018563:Disease Notification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005506:Food Contamination; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology