Food Safety: Information on Foodborne Illnesses. United States General AccountingOffice Report to Congressional Committees

摘要

Foodborne illnesses caused by microbial contamination--the most commonlyidentified cause of such outbreaks--have heightened the public's concern about the safety of food. Given the scale of the U.S. food production and distribution system and the lack of control over how consumers handle food after they purchase it, there is little likelihood that foodborne illnesses can be completely eliminated. The most that can be hoped for is that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that the problem is minimized. In this context, the authors have attempted in this report to provide a factual picture on the extent of foodborne illness in the United States today. Specifically, the authors obtained the best available information on the (1) frequency of foodborne illness, (2) health consequences and economic impacts of foodborne illnesses, and (3) adequacy of knowledge about foodborne illnesses to develop effective control strategies.