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Health
Ranking the Risks: The Ten Pathogen-Food Combinations With the Greatest Burden on Public Health
Fourteen pathogens account for more than 95 percent of the pathogen-caused illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths annually, at an estimated cost of $14.1 billion, a report from the Emerging Pathogens Institute at University of Florida and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds. The report, Ranking the Risks: The Ten Pathogen-Food Combinations With the Greatest Burden on Public Health (70 pages, PDF), lists the pathogen and food combinations with the highest disease burdens, including Campylobacter in poultry, Toxoplasma in pork, Listeria in deli meats and dairy products, Salmonella in poultry, and Norovirus in complex foods (multi-ingredient, non-meat dishes). Top food categories in terms of pathogen-driven disease burden include poultry, complex foods, and pork. To more effectively deal with the problem, the report's authors call for fully funding state and local inspection activities and enhancing state adoption of the FDA Food Code, as well as better education and training for food workers and inspectors.
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