News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Federal food regulators unveiled an extensive study of how Listeria monocytogenes behaves in a retail delicatessen that they hope merchants, food producers, and even consumers will use as a "virtual deli" to better understand contamination and prevention steps.

(CIDRAP News) – The overall US incidence of major foodborne diseases was about the same in 2012 as it was about 5 years earlier, but Campylobacter infections were significantly more common, for unclear reasons, federal officials announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – Salmonella contamination in an Indiana grower's melons linked to a 2012 outbreak likely occurred in the growing fields and was likely spread during various handling stages, according to an environmental assessment by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

(CIDRAP News) – After scrutinizing a decade's worth of data on foodborne disease outbreaks, federal health officials estimate that produce was the vehicle in close to half of all illnesses and that poultry was the culprit in 19% of all deaths.

(CIDRAP News) – Consumer Reports magazine has stirred debate about pathogens in pork by reporting a small study in which Yersinia enterocolitica was found in 69% of samples, while more common foodborne pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria were much less prevalent.