E coli and Food Safety: It's a Jungle Out There

Foodborne illnesses are a substantial yet largely preventable health burden worldwide. We previously reviewed food safety in the United States^[1] and harked back to the classic book, The Jungle, which portrayed the unsanitary conditions and practices prevalent in industrialized American cities in the early 1900s.^[2] While this had a significant impact on reformation of the meatpacking industry, how far have we come since the conditions reported by Upton Sinclair? One indicator of progress is whether we have adequately responded to the lessons learned. In this context, we will focus specifically on foodborne Escherichia coli infections.

E coli Outbreaks and Renewed Efforts for Safety

In 1993, an E coli outbreak in four states affected more than 700 people and was associated with 171 hospitalizations, including four deaths in children, attributed to hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS); the common source of their illnesses was traced to Shiga toxin–producing E coli (STEC) serogroup O157–contaminated hamburgers sold at Jack in the Box restaurants.^[3,4]

This dramatic, widely publicized case series served to increase public awareness and concern about unsanitary practices in the fast-food industry.^[5]That outbreak, in part, spurred significant improvements in efforts to ensure safe food, including enhanced federal food safety regulations, more stringent industry practices, and intensified policies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Medscape Gastroenterology © 2018 WebMD, LLC

Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: E coli and Food Safety: It's a Jungle Out There - Medscape - Apr 23, 2018.