title: The food industry's current and future role in preventing microbial foodborne illness within the United States.
abstract: During the past century, the microbiological safety of the US food supply has improved; however, many foodborne illnesses and outbreaks occur annually. Hence, opportunities for the food industry to improve the safety of both domestic and imported food exist through the adoption of risk-based preventive measures. Challenging food safety issues that are on the horizon include demographic changes to a population whose immune system is more susceptible to foodborne and opportunistic pathogens, climate changes that will shift where food is produced, and consumers' preferences for raw and minimally processed foods. Increased environmental and product testing and anonymous data sharing by the food industry with the public health community would aid in identifying system weaknesses and enabling more targeted corrective and preventive actions. Clinicians will continue to play a major role in reducing foodborne illnesses by diagnosing and reporting cases and in helping to educate the consumer about food safety practices.
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Marilyn C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Alali
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cannon
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Xiangyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Ynes
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Environmental Science, University of Georgia, Athens.
authors.forename: Mary Alice
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005506:Food Contamination; D019649:Food Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D059022:Food Safety; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D011786:Quality Control; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Food Safety Modernization Act; food industry; foodborne illness; imported food; whole-genome sequencing