Take the poll that’s running as I write this. It asks: “Which of the following poses the greatest food-safety risk? Allowable answers include: GMOs, chemical additives, environmental contaminants (i.e., PCBs), microbial contamination or pesticides. It started right in the middle of the E. coli–contaminated spinach crisis, so I assumed the answer would be a slam-dunk. But so far it’s not. While microbial contamination is currently the front-runner, with over one-third saying it’s the biggest problem, combine any other two—with the exception of GMOs—and it looks like a much smaller issue. That indicates one of two things: either a number of “amateurs” with the customary mistrust of chemistry access the website, or our industry isn’t paying attention. I’ve worked with you for a number of years, so I’m inclined to believe it’s the former, the chemophobes, who believe the specter of possible technological harm beats out the clear and present danger of the ubiquitous swarms of natural pathogens waiting to pounce on our unsuspecting immune systems.
The latest CDC update (which may change as time passes) is that 199 persons were infected with E. coli O157:H7, 51% were hospitalized, 16% developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome, and three deaths have occurred, with another suspected. In 2005, CDC estimates an overall incidence of foodborne infections per 100,000 U.S. population of 37.71 (14.55 for Salmonella, 12.72 for Campylobacter, 4.67 for Shigella, 2.95 for Cryptosporidium, 1.06 for E. coli O157, 0.36 for Yersinia, 0.33 for E.coli non-O157, 0.30 for Listeria, 0.27 for Vibrio, and 0.15 for Cyclospora). So, for every 100 people you know or work with, four come down with a foodborne illness each year. Listeriosis alone kills around 500 people in the United States every year. Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at—figuratively and literally—I’d rather take my chances with pesticides (currently the No. 2 answer) any day.
This hearkens back to the concept of risk perception: The public doesn’t necessarily associate the greatest risk to things that truly present the biggest concern. In the case of microbial illnesses, they are natural, immediate, scientifically understood and familiar—all factors that decrease risk perception. Microbes and chemicals both share potential risk to children and media attention, but chemicals also add the factors of unfamiliar, not understood by the public, the risks not scientifically identified, involuntary, uncontrolled, delayed, etc.—they are basically the poster child for scary factors as far as the public is concerned.
Luckily, we professionals understand the seriousness of microbial safety. As the recent outbreak showed, the bad bugs never sleep (or the lawyers), and when it comes to food safety, neither should we.
