Foodborne Disease Outbreak

The infant 's mother made a phone call to Vermont on 5 February and reported that her 5 - year - old child and two children between 7 and 10 years old suffered from food poisoning due to vomiting and diarrhea. Possibility occurs within 12 hours. The child's condition got worse and her mother took her to the local hospital which was housed in the emergency room. The mother complained of nausea at 10 o'clock on February 2, after which the child started diarrhea and vomiting many times, she could not eat without vomiting.

Until recently, the burden of food contamination and foodborne illness was systematically assessed and quantified. Research on the occurrence of foodborne diseases in the United States, Australia, Germany, India has confirmed the serious problems of millions of people affected by foodborne diseases and deaths. Data indicate that up to 30% of the population of developed countries may be affected each year by food poisoning. It is difficult to estimate the global incidence of food poisoning, but an estimated 2.2 million people died of diarrheal disease including 1.8 million children in 1998.

In developing countries, the majority of food poisoning outbreaks are undervalued or underestimated. For example, Nigeria is a country with a population of over 170 million people. However, it is reported that 90,000 food poisonings occur every year. Australia is a developed country with a population of only 24 million people, equivalent to 1: 7 compared to Nigeria. However, in Australia, over 5.2 million people suffer from food poisoning annually, despite high standard of living, supply of water supply, aggressive efforts by the government, food safety measures. From this fact, it can be inferred that at least 36 million people (7 × 5.2 million) in Nigeria may be affected each year. Therefore, underestimating the incidence of foodborne diseases in developing countries will affect the measures and strategies implemented to control the occurrence of foodborne diseases.

Due to current food safety problems, the occurrence of large-scale foodborne diseases has been reported. The hype of the biotechnology revolution convinced the public that the government can guarantee that the risk of foodborne illness is zero. Do not try to accept something unnecessary for meat creates the concept of zero tolerance, even if not so important. However, zero risk and zero tolerance can not be achieved. But, they are precious goals. These guarantees are under pressure from the scientific community, consumer groups, public interest groups and civil servants. The previous Food and Nutrition Commission Report (NRC, 1985a, 1985b) outlines the legitimate reasons for public concern about food borne illness transmitted by beef or beef products.