Food Protection Trends
Abstracts - May 2007
Consumer Decisions on Storage of Packaged Foods
Spinach and the Media: How We Learn about a Major Outbreak
Salmonellosis Outbreaks in Humans in the United States, 1990–2003: The Contribution of Turkey as a Vehicle
Consumer Decisions on Storage of Packaged Foods
Amy M. Lando and Sara B. Fein
Consumer Studies Staff, HFS 020, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration,
5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, USA
SUMMARY
We investigate the causes of consumer uncertainty regarding storage of packaged foods by examining the characteristics of
the consumers, the type of food products and packaging, and where the product was stored at purchase. Consumers’ self-reported refrigeration practices from the 1998 Food Safety Survey are analyzed descriptively and by logistic regression. Eleven percent of the 2,001 respondents reported difficulty during the past three months in deciding whether to refrigerate a packaged food. When consumers do have difficulty, it is likely that the products either are new to them or need to be stored in an unexpected way. Those most likely to report uncertainty about whether to refrigerate were people of middle age and people likely to be more attuned to food safety issues — those who have some college or higher education, who look at many sources of food information, and who thought that a household member had a recent foodborne illness. The results suggest that additional education may be needed to inform consumers about proper refrigeration and that storage information on packages is particularly important for foods that are stored at room temperature until opened but that then need refrigeration.
Full Text Article
Spinach and the Media:
How We Learn about
a Major Outbreak
Ewen C. D. Todd-1, Craig K. Harris-2, Andrew J. Knight-3 and Michelle R. Worosz-4
1*Food Safety Policy Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA, 48824-1302
2-Food Safety Policy Center and Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East MI, USA, 48824-1111
3-Food Safety Policy Center, Michigan State University, East MI, USA, 48824-1302
4-Food Safety Policy Center, Michigan State University, East MI, USA, 48824-1111
ABSTRACT
The media was the main source of information as the investigation of E. coli O157:H7 spinach outbreak of August and September 2006 unfolded. The final total was 205 cases in 26 states. Numerous experts representing different groups speculated as to the cause of the outbreak, its impact, and possible preventative and control measures for the future. On a daily basis, the public was informed through short news items in which the opinions of spokespersons and self-declared experts were stated but sometimes differed. Comments included trust in the spinach industry, organic spinach production, environmental contamination sources, processing decontamination strategies, tracking leafy green products, improvements to foodborne surveillance and the government oversight system, and the impact of this information on consumers’ attitudes to spinach. Two issues arising from these media statements in retrospect are (1) what qualifies an expert to speak on these issues, and (2) how do journalists extract critical statements that are newsworthy and still convey the experts’ main messages. In major outbreaks such as this one, official government reports are not going to be completed until well after the heightened awareness of the event. Thus, the role of industry spokespersons, appropriate government officials, and the media in communicating information to the public is critical to help consumers make informed decisions for themselves and their families without demonizing or exonerating those most immediately involved. Unfortunately, in this outbreak the means of transmission to the spinach was not determined, although the investigation identified a cattle farm, a wild pig and surface water as sources of the implicated E. coli O157:H7 strain. Six months after the outbreak, the industry has agreed to create a uniform approach to good agricultural practices to anticipate and prevent future contamination of leafy greens, and at the same time try and recoup losses by promoting their products in an attempt to win back public acceptance. In addition, spinach and lettuce growers may have to deal with stricter state and federal governments standards, which will be an additional financial burden.
Full Text Article
Salmonellosis Outbreaks in Humans in the United States, 1990–2003: The Contribution of Turkey as a Vehicle
Esther Tumuhairwe-1, Rhonda Magel-1, Madhusudan Bhandary-1 and Margaret Loy Khaitsa-2
1-Department of Statistics, North Dakota State University, P.O. Box 5575, Waldron 201, Fargo, ND 58105-5575, USA
2-Department of Veterinary and Microbiological Sciences, North Dakota State 1523 Centennial Blvd., Fargo, ND 58105-5406, USA
SUMMARY
Studies have implicated poultry and poultry products in the outbreak of salmonellosis; however, information is lacking on the role of turkey as a vehicle in foodborne outbreaks. We designed this study based on the hypothesis that consumption of turkey carries a comparable risk of acquiring salmonellosis to that associated with other vehicles. To fill this information gap, we described the spatial and temporal occurrence of outbreaks, described occurrence of outbreaks by vehicle, ranked turkey meat associated outbreaks (TMAOs) with salmonellosis outbreaks associated with other vehicles (SOOVs), and evaluated the major Salmonella serotypes isolated in TMAOs relative to SOOVs. used Cox-Stuart and chi-square tests to test for trends in numbers of outbreaks over time and in major serotypes across vehicles, respectively. There were 1,465 salmonellosis outbreaks involving 49/50 states. TMAOs were reported by 24 states, mostly from California and New York. No trend was observed for TMAOs (P=0.2734) and SOOVs (P = 0.1641), and outbreaks peaked in fall and in summer for TMAOs and SOOVs, respectively. Of the 1,465 outbreaks, 1,036 of them had a known vehicle. Turkey was implicated in 43 (4.2%), seafoods in 60 (5.8%), pasta in 86 (8.3%), milk products in 89 (8.6%), chicken in 139 (13.4%), red meats (beef and pork) in 160 (15.4%), eggs in 221 (21.3%), and fresh produce in 238 (23%). Most outbreaks occurred at restaurants and in private homes for TMAOs (23.2% and 21%) and SOOVs (46.9% and 24.1%), respectively. The major serotypes were S. Enteritidis, S. Heidelberg, S. Reading and S. Newport from TMAOs, and S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium,
S. Heidelberg and S. Newport from SOOVs, in that order. TMAOs were lower than SOOVs. Understanding factors
related to low TMAOs would help in the design of effective salmonellosis control programs.
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