Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Has Emerged as a Foodborne Hazard, Says CSPI

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Has Emerged as a Foodborne Hazard, Says CSPI


WASHINGTON—Foodborne illnesses due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been occurring since the 1970s, according to a recent study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which signals that antibiotics used on the farm may be causing more serious pathogens in the nation’s food supply. CSPI’s analysis shows a steady increase of such outbreaks in every decade since the 1970s, though that may be due to increased testing and reporting, the group said. In its study of 35 documented outbreaks, raw milk, raw milk cheeses and ground beef appeared to carry the resistant pathogens most frequently.
“Outbreaks from antibiotic resistant strains of Salmonella, though rare, can not be ignored by our food safety regulators. The problem has clearly emerged with respect to some high risk foods,” said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “Both humans and animals rely on antibiotics to stay healthy. But overuse in some sectors may squander their effectiveness and leave consumer vulnerable to hard-to-treat foodborne infections.”
Multi-drug resistance was found in 10 out of 14 outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant foodborne illness reported between 2000 and 2009, according to the study. CSPI says the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria needs much greater scrutiny by federal government if antibiotics are to remain effective in treating human and veterinary illnesses. Cataloging outbreaks of foodborne illness and then testing the pathogens for antibiotic resistance is a critical step if policymakers are to document the link between antibiotic use on farms animals and human illness from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the group says.
Antibiotic resistance is an inevitable consequence of antibiotic use, according to the CSPI report. The more antibiotics are used, the more bacteria will develop resistance. Patients who develop an infection from antibiotic-resistant bacteria are more likely to have longer and more expensive hospitalizations and increased mortality. And, the antibiotics that finally do provide successful treatment to resistant bacteria can be more toxic to humans, with more serious side effects than common antibiotics.
CSPI presented its findings at a one-day conference it cosponsored with the Pew Charitable Trusts, Managing the Risk of Foodborne Hazards: STECs and Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens. Besides DeWaal, other presenters at the conference included the USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor, Patricia Griffin from the CDC, and Danilo Lo Fo Wong from the World Health Organization.

You've Come A Long Way, Mr. Ed

The education started in a most unsanitary manner. Nearly fifty years ago, 5:00 AM on the old Chicago Produce Terminal, in the days when rail efficiency was king and produce by truck an afterthought. My dad & I had climbed up inside a rail car full of tomatoes fresh in from California, he the inspector for temperature & condition before it was authorized to ship to markets in Boston or Philly or New York. Me? When I wasn't coughing out the ethylene, I was attempting to throw the discards Dad had pulped out the sliding door. But unlike Elvis Costello, at five years old my aim wasn't always true & occasionally I'd wind up like Juan Marichal & hit the inside of the door, missing the strike zone & splattering both us and the car with tomato entrails.

Dad wasn't particularly happy about that, and I'm sure the consignee at the Eastern destination couldn't have been thrilled either. But the point illustrated is that in the early 1960's, food safety wasn't even a gleam in some microbiologist's eye. It just was not part of the conversation. Fast forward a few years later to myself as an undergrad intellectual-to-be stevedore for the summer on South Water Market. All I remember were early Friday mornings after late Thursday night softball games & the bars afterwards. After about two hours of sleep, walking down the market to work and almost losing my lunch at the smell of pallets of leaking, decaying onions out on the walk in the sun was an aroma that is permanently hardwired into my brain. Not a good thing, kind of like not being able to even smell Canadian Club whisky any more. But that's another story.

I'm sure every fifty-something market man has stories that could rival or surpass these. There is something about the word 'perishable' that reminds us every waking day that we don't sell widgets. The USDA inspections faxed to me serve that purpose as well. So it's in that spirit that I approved when President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law on January 4. It was the first update of its kind since 1932, when South Water Market was seven years old and rickety trucks were just beginning to supplant horses as the purveyor's choice mode of transportation. Horses!! Wonder what 'equine clauses' the FDA and CDC would have interjected there--mandatory horsey Imodium?

Speaking of, I get the expanded FDA role here, just as I understand the new HACCP guidelines. Politically, I'm as against big government intrusion as anybody but there's no doubt the framework is a necessity. My major concern is in the implementation over the next five to ten years. Quality assurance certification has been a must-do line item for any link in the foodservice & large retail chain, but how about in the urban areas, the small ethnic marketplace stores that purchase daily from the terminal market? To them, FDA edicts translate into added costs to a bottom line that has been skinny for a long time now.

Here's hoping the government exercises some restraint & flexibility for the little guy.

Later,

Jay