ABSTRACT
Foodborne illnesses are considered to be a major source of public health concerns worldwide. Although these are preventable, the costs associated with reducing the incidence of foodborne disease outbreaks, by continuously developing policies, regulations and implementing more effective technologies in the food industry, are quite high. With the consumers’ increasing demand for natural, nutritious, wholesome and readily available food products, the industry faces challenges to successfully prevent foodborne illnesses in a cost-effective manner. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that each year, there are approximately 48 million cases of foodborne illnesses causing about 128 000 hospitalizations and 3000 deaths only in the United States (CDC, 2015). Roughly 9.4 million of those cases are caused by known pathogens and in 2013, the CDC reported 818 foodborne disease outbreaks resulting in 13 360 illnesses and 16 deaths. Approximately 35% of these outbreaks were caused by pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli (STEC), Clostridium perfringens and Campylobacter spp. When organized by food category, the highest outbreak-associated illnesses were related to chicken meat (23%), with Salmonella in chicken being the leading pathogen-food category pair resulting in outbreak-associated illnesses.
