Foodborne illness: is it on the rise?

Foodborne illness is a serious public health threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 76 million foodborne illnesses, including 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, occur in the United States each year. Two recently published Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) reports showed that Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella, Cryptosporidium, and Shiga toxin Escherichia coli (STEC) O157 continue to be leading causes of both the number and incidence of laboratory-confirmed foodborne infections in the United States.

Comparison of 3M Petrifilm environmental Listeria plates against standard enrichment methods for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes of epidemiological significance from environmental surfaces.

Environmental monitoring using sensitive methods for detection and elimination of harborage sites of Listeria monocytogenes is key to the control of this organism. The 3M Petrifilm Environmental Listeria (EL) Plate-a no enrichment method-was compared with the USDA/FSIS, modified USDA/FSIS (mUSDA), and ISO methods for detection/recovery of L. monocytogenes on 4 environmental surfaces (brick, dairy board, stainless steel, and epoxy resin).

Impact of nitrite on detection of Listeria monocytogenes in selected ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and seafood products.

The impact of sodium nitrite (NaNO2) on detection and recovery of Listeria monocytogenes from select ready-to-eat (RTE) foods including smoked salmon, smoked ham, beef frankfurters, and beef bologna was assessed. Nitrite-containing (NC; 100 to 200 ppm NaNO2) or nitrite-free (NF) foods were inoculated with a 5-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes by immersion into Butterfield's buffer solution containing 5.