A new study accepted for publication in the International Journal of Food Microbiology predicts an increase in the burden of food-borne disease. The study focussed on the European Union and to a lesser extent the United States and more global issues. Current and potential future trends in technology, consumption and trade of food that may impact on food-borne disease were analysed and the key driving factors identified. These factors come from a wide range of spheres relevant to food and include political, economic, social, technological, regulatory and environmental drivers.
The most important factors driving an increase in the burden of food-borne disease in the next few decades were found to be the anticipated doubling of the global demand for food and of the international trade in food next to a significantly increased consumption of certain high-value food commodities such as meat and poultry and fresh produce. A less important factor potentially increasing the food-borne disease burden would be the increased demand for convenience foods. This may come as a surprise to many people whose only experience with microbiolgical contaminants in food could be stories of gastroenteritis related to some local fast-food outlet.
Factors that may contribute to a reduction in the food-borne disease burden were identified as the ability of governments around the world to take effective regulatory measures as well as the development and use of new food safety technologies and detection methods. The most important factor in reducing the burden of food-borne disease was identified as our ability to first detect and investigate a food safety issue and then to develop effective control measures.
The study deals with issues on a grand scale, recognising the global nature of the food industry. In reality, individuals would do well to restrict consumption of “manufactured foods” or highly processed food products. Eating properly washed and prepared whole foods is much healthier and it eliminates a huge proportion of the risk considered by the study. Of course, growing, storage and transportation conditions all still impact the risk assessment with whole foods, since much “fresh” produce that people consume is grown by other people in sometimes distant places.
