1. CURRENT ISSUES IN FOOD SAFETY Brian Shawn Eblen Senior Scientist

2. Lecture Outline What are some food safety problems facing the United States How are regulatory agencies and industry attempting to solve these problem? New technologies New technologies Fill in data gaps Fill in data gaps Broader approaches Broader approaches

3. Salmonellosis, US 1960-96 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 1960196319661969197219751978198119841987199019931996 Source : MMWR

4. Foodborne Illness (FBI) in US 1.4 episodes of diarrhea / person/ year 76 million illnesses 323,000 hospitalizations 323,000 hospitalizations 5,200 deaths 5,200 deaths $5.6 billion per year Food product recalls for life threatening bacteria have increased

5. Why is FBI Increasing? Complex food chain Increased shelf life Globalization of food supply More meals being eaten out More at-risk people New/unusual foods/food preparation New more virulent microorganisms Better detection methods

6. Environment Host Pathogen Factors Affecting FBI (Change)

7. Greatest Technological Achievements of the 20th Century ElectrificationAutomobileAirplane Water Supply/Distribution ElectronicsRadio/Television Farm Mechanization ComputersTelephone Air conditioning/ Refrigeration HighwaysSpacecraftInternetImaging Household Appliances Health Technologies Petroleum/Petrochemic al Technologies Laser/Fiberoptics Nuclear Technologies High-Performance Materials

8. Microbial Pathogens BacteriaVirusesProtozoaFungi Listeria monocytogenes (DennisKunkel.com)

9. 0 2,000,0004,000,0006,000,0008,000,00010,000,000 Calicivirus Campylobacter Salmonella C. perfringens Giardia S. aureus Impact -- Better measurement of foodborne illness

10. Calicivirus: NLV & Sapporo Family Caliciviridae Positive strand polyadentylated RNA viruses NAKED SINGLE STRAND RNA NAKED SINGLE STRAND RNA Note the “Star of David” image

11. Contamination Model Secondary Carriers Secondary Carriers Human/Animal Waste Human/Animal Waste Water Food

14. Control Fruit (Fig. 1) Figure 2  Figure 3  Internalization of Pathogens

15. New or Non-traditional Foods Associated With Recent Outbreaks MangosAlmondsPotatoes Soft cheese Infant formula Dry Cereal Seed/bean sprouts SalsaCantaloupe Fruit juices Berries

16. Finding a pathogen on food is very difficult! Cyclospora cayetanensis Problem Finding a needle in the haystack Finding a needle in the haystack Great distances Great distances Small size Small size Alien environment Alien environment Best approach prevention prevention

18. Intentional Contamination Rajneeshee Cult – Salmonella typhimurium in restaurant salad bar Poison Chilean grapes Anthrax in letters

19. Challenges of a food Defense Incident Food defense incident would immediately lead to need for experts in Determination of potential agents Determination of potential agents Agent characteristics and behavior Agent characteristics and behavior Agent detection and inactivation Agent detection and inactivation Treatment and containment Treatment and containment Capabilities of FDA laboratories Capabilities of FDA laboratories Would also likely result in need for rapid mobilization of research capability

20. C. botulinum Toxicity Comparison with other toxins

21. Mouse Bioassay

22. For C. botulinum neurotoxin the mouse is the most sensitive detection system (pg) For C. botulinum neurotoxin the mouse is the most sensitive detection system (pg) For other exotic agents, animals are the only way to quantify enough agent to test. Expensive Rate limiting and time consuming Major Hurdle

23. ELISA Capture IgG Botulinum toxin Dig-labeled second IgG Anti-dig-POD (poly), Fab Positives turns yellow

24.  -toxin labeled with gold particle Toxin Y  -toxin Y  -  -toxin antibody Positive Negative Hand-Held

25. Network of public health laboratories including food regulatory laboratories "DNA fingerprinting“ E. coli O157:H7 E. coli O157:H7 Salmonella Salmonella Shigella Shigella Listeria Listeria Can be scanned, compared, transmitted, and accessed electronically New Technologies Molecular subtyping network

26. Positive toad sampled matched to a patient in Virginia

27. Advanced Intervention Technologies UV treatment Pulsed Electric Fields High Pressure IrradiationMembranes Chemical Preservatives Bright light Ozone

28. Overall Strategy Inspection, examination, testing Regulatory enforcement Surveillance Education and training Outreach and guidance Research Risk assessment Coordination

29. CONCLUSIONS Foodborne illness remains a critical public health problem Counterterrorism efforts will help with the food safety problem Science-based solutions reduce foodborne illness.

30. Prevention is the Primary Barrier to Safeguard Food Safety Prevention