Foodborne disease
The pattern of Foodborne disease has changed substantially in industrialized countries in recent decades. Outbreaks are more likely to be far reaching, and some are even global in scale because of widespread food distribution and changes in methods of food preparation. Further changes in the incidence of foodborne disease and the pattern of food-related illness can be anticipated from global warming. As a result of changed conditions in food production and better laboratory detection techniques, new foodborne pathogens continue to be identified. In particular, we are now faced with the emergence of antimicrobial drug–resistant bacteria and a number of viruses not previously recognized.
Foodborne disease is a public health concern in all parts of the world. In the United States, foodborne disease causes an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths each year. In the United Kingdom, an estimated 2.37 million cases of foodborne gastroenteritis occurred in 1995. Previous estimates of foodborne gastroenteritis in Australia have ranged from 1–2 million to 4 million episodes per year. The effect of such large numbers of persons with gastrointestinal illness is considerable.
A recent national survey of gastroenteritis in Australia found that one third of working adults miss ≥1 days of work when they have gastroenteritis, and another third of cases result in a caregiver missing work. In Australia in 2003, 99 reported outbreaks of foodborne disease affected 1,686 people and caused 6 deaths. Any evidence of food contamination can also have a major effect on food industry and trade. The food industry in Australia generates >$29 billion in food production, with >20% of products exported, and $57 billion in food processing.
Foodborne disease
