Every year, an estimated 76 million Americans become sick from foodborne illnesses. Some 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die after consuming foods tainted with bad bacteria, viruses or parasites.

After years of declining budgets, calls for food safety reform haven taken on new urgency within both the executive branch and the Congress. The proposed 2008 budgets proposed increased funding for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and additional funds for the FDA to better track, detect and respond to outbreaks of foodborne illness, such as the recent warning from the FDA that consumers not eat certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness).

After the high-profile spinach saga in 2006, Congressional hearings were held in to review the roles of federal regulatory agencies involved in the oversight of food safety, and the adequacy of their communications with the public. There are currently two oversight systems: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees meat, poultry and processed egg products, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates everything else we eat, including produce, seafood and shelled eggs.

Critics point to other serious problems that need to be remedied: Guidelines for fresh produce are voluntary without any teeth for enforcement. Although food imports have doubled over the past decade, the FDA’s staff and budget allocated for food safety have been slashed in recent years and the number of inspectors has decreased.

The FDA and USDA instituted Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) food safety guidelines in recent years to promote continuous monitoring of critical control points in the process of food manufacturing The plans are mandatory for the processing of seafood, juice, meat and poultry. HACCP is viewed as a more systematic and efficient alternative to government spot inspections of processing plants and food products.

The long-term care industry is not required to follow the HACCP guidelines in the preparation and service of foods, but very stringent sanitation guidelines are followed as part of the current Food Code. These include ensuring that foods come from approved sources, maintaining appropriate temperatures during receiving, handling, preparation, service and storage, as well as policies and procedures related to safe food handling by all employees.

How You Can Stay Safe at Home
You can prevent most foodborne illness by taking the right precautions at home. Some simple steps from the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are:

• Wash your hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds before preparing food and after using the bathroom or changing diapers.
• Keep raw meat, poultry, or seafood and their juices away from cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
• Cook foods properly and at a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria. Use a thermometer to check that meats have reached recommended internal temperatures.
• Refrigerate foods within 2 hours or less after cooking because cold temperatures will help keep harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying.
• Clean surfaces well before and after preparing different foods.
• Keep two different or color-coded cutting boards and use one for meat only and the other for raw produce. Many new cutting boards are dishwasher safe, which helps kill germs. One wooden cutting board now comes stamped with a chicken on one side and veggies on the other. You still need to be careful about meat juices, though, and keep them away from any raw foods. Don't use a knife you used to cut meat to chop vegetables or produce without washing carefully first and never place produce or cooked foods on plates that held raw meats.
• Don't use sponges or cloths that you've used to clean countertops to wash dishes. Keep them separate and disinfect frequently.

For a complete prevention list, and to find out how safe your kitchen is, use our online resource guide:

• Govt. Tips on Handling Food, Reporting Illnesses or Complaints, and More http://www.foodsafety.gov
• Partnership for Food Safety Education: Advice on Preparing Food Safely http://www.fightbac.org/
• FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition: Food Safety A to Z http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/a2z-toc.html
• American Dietetic Association: How Safe Is Your Kitchen? http://www.homefoodsafety.org
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Food Safety Office http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/
• U.S.D.A.: Food Safety Education http://www.fsis.usda.gov/food_safety_education/index.asp
• NIH: Foodborne Diseases http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/266

Submitted By: Alicia Aguiar
Dietary Consultant
ABCM Corporation