For the past three years, practically the only message we have heard in the food safety world is related to Salmonella in poultry. From the outside looking in, one would assume that there are no other food safety issues and taking care of this will eliminate all food safety issues in the food industry. The topic is taking up all the air in the room. It dominates regulatory updates, scientific research and industry focus.

Somehow, in the midst of the monolithic thinking, real food safety issues have slid under the radar, and no one seems to talk about current outbreaks and the plethora of other pathogens and concerns that are still there or emerging in the food safety space. The funding for research focuses on Salmonella, the regulations focus on it, and all the while people are getting sick, being hospitalized and even dying from other foodborne pathogens in other products. I took a look at recent outbreaks on the CDC website as I was writing a grant application for mitigation strategies of Salmonella in poultry. I was sure I could find much evidence to support my research, and I was actually surprised at my findings.—Go take a look yourself if you don’t believe me.

Let’s review a few recent outbreaks related to FSIS-inspected products:

Listeria in Deli Meats – This has resulted in three deaths, 43 hospitalizations and is widespread over three states at the time of writing this blog. This isn’t from a small “mom and pop” operation, but from a major company that is sure to have a strong food safety program and experts.
Ground beef-STEC outbreak in Montana with 13 illnesses and one death
Charcuterie Meats — Salmonella outbreak causing 104 illnesses 27 hospitalizations

FDA-products aren’t immune, so let’s review a few of those as well:

Cucumbers — Salmonella has caused almost 450 consumers have been sickened with 125 hospitalizations.
Raw Milk — STEC and Salmonella are still causing illnesses in multiple raw milk outbreaks. All I can say is WHY? … Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization in 1860 … enough said.
Queso Fresco and Cotija Cheese — Listeria has caused 26 illnesses , 24 hospitalizations and two deaths.
Walnuts — STEC has caused 13 cases and seven hospitalizations

In searching for information for my grant proposal justification, I kept scrolling. I went back and back and back until I finally found documented outbreaks of Salmonella in the poultry world. The last reported turkey outbreak was in 2019 and for chicken in 2018. It has been five to six years since we have had an outbreak. My justification for my profound idea just got a bit weaker than I thought it was.

Just to be clear, I am well aware of sporadic outbreaks and CDC estimates and attribution data. We all have seen that graph 100 times. I have personally used it in dozens of presentations. Salmonella is the No. 1 cause of foodborne illnesses and poultry is the No. 1 cause. However, there is also the contribution from fruits and vegetables and pork and so forth. If we eliminated all Salmonella in poultry, how much would we move the needle in attribution data? I’m sure someone has calculated this. Recent deaths in documented outbreaks are coming from other pathogens and other products. We can’t forget this, and we can’t become complacent when it comes to food safety.

It's Not Just Salmonella or Poultry

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