A Historical Look at the Prevalence of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Associated with Asian Foods in the United States

Asian foods have become a popular dining option for Americans in recent years. We examined foodborne illness outbreak data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cross-checked them, and analyzed them on the basis of number of outbreaks, cases per outbreak, etiology, outbreak location, and food vehicles to evaluate recent food safety trends associated with Asian food. From 1990 to 2008, 8.7% of the foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. (17,640 total outbreaks) were associated with three popular ethnic food categories (Italian, Mexican, and Asian). Asian foods represented approximately 20.6% of outbreaks (315 outbreaks) and 9.6% of cases (3,529 cases) of the totals associated with ethnic foods. The majority of outbreaks originated in restaurants/delicatessens (60%) and were of unknown etiologies (62.2%). Bacterial agents were the most prevalent of the known etiologies (77%), followed by viruses (18%) and then by chemicals and toxins (5%). Asian foods most frequently associated with illness were Asian-style cooked and fried rice (40%) and sushi (15%). This epidemiological analysis suggests the need for further examination of special issues concerning ingredients, preparation, cooking, serving, and handling of Asian foods in the United States.