The Problem of Food Safety: The European Example Prof. Dr. Ing. Dr. h.c. W.E.L. Spiess PastPresident

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The Problem of Food SafetyThe
European ExampleProf. Dr. Ing. Dr. h.c. W.E.L.
SpiessPast-President IUFoST (Term 2003 2006)
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The contamination of food with
dangerous pathogenic micro-organism and toxic
environmental pollutants has reached a dimension
that it has to be considered as a serious
health threat to the consumer world wide.
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Developing Countries Developing countries
suffer from diseases e.g. Cholera,
Campylobacteriosis, Escherichia coli infections,
Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Brucellosis, and
Hepatitis A. Annual incidence 1.5 billion
episodes of diarrhoea of food-borne origin in
children result in over 3 million deaths.
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CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA Diarrhoeal diseases
caused by amoebic dysentery, trichinosis,
giardiasis, shigellosis, brucellosis, Escherichia
coli, and hepatitis infections are the main
reasons of death in children. In 1991 in Peru
Cholera caused by contaminated food and water was
responsible for 600,000 cases. It spread to other
countries. The total number of cases and deaths
from 1991 to 1994 was 1,061,188 and 9,989
respectively. The disease was spread through
consumption of street-vended foods and ice,
undercooked or raw seafood contaminated with
local sewage and waste water.
 
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ASIA In Japan, Salmonella has become a frequent
cause of contamination because of changes in the
national diet - eggs and egg products become more
popular. Seafood was often implicated. In 1998
the number of Escherichiacoli O157H7 outbreaks
caused 9 578 cases and 11 deaths. Most incidents
occurred in restaurants and hotels. In the
Republic of Korea most incidents occurred in the
workplace and the home. Seafood and food of
animal origin was frequently associated with
outbreaks.
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AFRICA Little is known about food-borne diseases
in Africa. In 1991 in Tanzania a botulism
outbreak caused by locally-made fish meal
accounted for 18 deaths. In 1994 in Egypt an
outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 was caused by
meat and dairy products. The bacterium was
detected in 6 of non-pasteurised milk, 6 of
fresh retail beef, 4 of boneless chicken, and 4
of lamb meat samples. In 2000 food-borne
diarrhoeal diseases amongst 500,000 refugees in
Rwanda accounted for about 14,000 cases and 47
deaths.

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Industrialised Countries 5 to 10 of
the population of industrialised countries are
annually involved in incidences of food-borne
diseases. The emergence of Listeria
monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157 and
multi-antibiotic resistant Salmonella typhimurium
have to be considered as new threats to public
health.
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OCEANIA /Australia In Australia approx.11,500
people/day suffer from food poisoning which
equates to about 4.2 million cases and of about
2.6 billion annually. In contrast food hygiene
regulatory systems cost government 18.6 million
(net) to enforce and small business 337 million
in compliance costs each year. Campylobacter
and Salmonella outbreaks are increasing, Shigella
and Yersinia are decreasing, Listeria
monocytogenes vary slightly from year to year.
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OCEANIA/New Zealand

• In New Zealand the agents responsible for illness
  are similar to those in other industrialised
  countries with Salmonella being the predominant
  cause of morbidity and mortality.

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United States/Canada Each year, seven
food-borne pathogens (Campylobacter jejuni,
Clostridium perfringens, E. coli O157H7,
Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella,
Staphylococcus aureus, and Toxoplasma gondii)
cause an estimated 3.3 to 12.3 million cases in
the United States and up to 3,900 deaths. Their
costs in human illness were estimated at US 6.5
to 34.9 billion annually. Salmonellosis cases
seem to have reached a plateau of about
40,000 and 9,000 each year, respectively.

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EUROPE Salmonella was responsible for 83 to
87 of outbreaks. Staphylo-cocci especially
Staphylo-coccus aureus, Clostridium perfringens
and Bacillus-cereus were also responsible for
high numbers of cases. Viral contamination
contributed presumably up tp 5 of the outbreaks.
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Europe Pop. 730 106 9 938 000 km2
Spain (E) Pop. 39,6 106 504 782 km2
Sweden (S) Pop. 8,8 106 449 964 km2
Germany (D) Pop. 81,3 106 357 021 km2
Italy (I) Pop. 57,2 106 301 225 km2
UK (Englang/Wales) Pop. 53 106 244 046 km2
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Campylobacter Infections per 100,000 Population

• Joint FAO/WHO Activities on Risk Assessment of
  Microbiological Hazards in Foods

Joint FAO/WHO Activities on Risk Assessment of
Microbiological Hazards in Foods
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Foodborne Outbreaks by Causative
AgentDetected Organisms
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Foodborne Outbreaks by Causative
AgentMajor Detected Organisms D Germany, I
Italy, E Spain, S Sweden, UK
England/Wales
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Major registered food-borne disease outbreaks
bycausative agents and cases in
outbreaks(Germany 1998)
 
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Foodborne Outbreaks by Implicated Food D
Germany, I Italy, E Spain, S Sweden, UK
England/Wales
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Foodborne Outbreaks by Place where Food was
Eaten/Acquired D Germany, E Spain, S
Sweden, UK England/Wales
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Foodborne Outbreaks by Place where Food was
Contaminated ,

• D Germany,
• S Sweden

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Foodborne Outbreaks by Contributing Factor D
Germany, E Spain, S Sweden, UK
England/Wales
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WHO and Food safetyWHO has made food safety
one of top eleven priorities, urging countries to
integrate food safety as essential public health
functions.WHO urge countries to provide adequate
resources to establish and strengthen their food
safety programs through the development and
implementation of systematic and sustainable
preventive measures aimed at reducing
significantly the incidence of food-borne
diseases.