A new study by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention states leafy vegetables caused more illnesses than any other commodity from 1998-2008.
Attribution of Foodborne Illnesses, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities by using Outbreak Data, United States, 1998–2008, is the new report which split up foods into 17 categories and matched them up with outbreak-associated illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths.
Leafy vegetables got some bad news. The CDC studied 17 commodities which showed leafy veggies caused more illnesses than any other commodity. Following leafy vegetables, the commodities linked to the most illnesses were dairy (1.3 million or 14 percent), fruits-nuts (1.2 million or 12 percent) and poultry (900,000 or 10 percent).
Illnesses associated with leafy vegetables were the second-most frequent cause of hospitalizations (14 percent) and the fifth-most frequent cause of death (6 percent).
Past studies have showed produce was linked to half of virus’ that caused a gastroenteritis, the second-most frequent food source for E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks.
But the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group, said CDC’s findings should be no surprise that leafy greens are a top contributor to illness.
“The fact that three of the produce categories — leafy greens, fruits and nuts, vine-stalk vegetables — show up as contributors to illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths underscores the need for rapid implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s new regulations to improve the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, announced on January 4,” said Caroline Smith DeWall, CSPI food-safety director.
The study comes as FDA announced holding the first public meeting on the FSMA proposed regulations in Washington, DC, from Feb. 28-March 1.