Risk Assessment: Tools, Techniques, and Their Applications

22.4 Case Study 4: Overview

22.4.1 Introduction

Food-borne disease outbreaks in the United States have become much too common. Illness cause by Escherichia coli is one of the more common types of food-related illnesses. However, most of the food-borne outbreaks in the United States are caused by Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium that is mostly found in food products that are meat based. Salmonella lives in the intestines of many animals, including humans (3). The bacteria are excreted from feces onto food products. When Salmonella are ingested, it will make humans sick, even though Salmonella lives in the intestines naturally.

One reason that Salmonella outbreaks are not more common is because the bacteria die when cooked at a high temperature. However, fresh produce does not get cooked and some of the outbreaks are associated with vegetables such as lettuce, peppers, and even alfalfa sprouts.

In 2008, there was a massive outbreak of Salmonella (1). Forty-three states were affected and 1329 document cases of salmonellosis were diagnosed from April 10, 2008, to July 31, 2008. The outbreak was one of the largest outbreaks of Salmonella in the United States. The source of the bacteria was said to be from Jalapeño and Serrano peppers, Cilantro, and possibly tomatoes from Mexico.

Most of the cases were reported from April 16 to July 9. During this period, there were 1017 people who were diagnosed. Of these cases, 203 people were hospitalized and 1 person died. At the beginning of ...