Is the Recession Increasing Foodborne Illness?

July 7th, 2009. By janem

Food manufacturers and retailers are watching their bottom line and finding ways to protect their profits, such as finding cheaper sources of supply, but at the same time they may be contributing to foodborne illness. One of my local grocery stores actually sells products at a huge discount if the “best before” date has expired, rather than send items back to the manufacturer. Perhaps the manufacturer is also getting a kick-back…Even nitwit UK celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright  said that “use by” dates were a marketing gimmick and advised viewers just to give food “a sniff”. Bad advice.

And I just heard that Frugal Food, Delia Smith’s bestseller from the 1970s, is being republished. In the book she advises families to cut costs by making food last longer, reheat leftovers, freeze spare portions and use whatever lurks in the fridge and freezer rather than turf it.

Just in the past few years the US has seen outbreaks from spinach, tomatoes, frozen pizza, peanut butter, hamburger meat, Asian spices and most recently, Nestlé Tollhouse cookie dough. Of course 2 main reasons for potential outbreaks are the increasing complexity of the food chain and globalisation and the ability of new pathogens to evolve. However, could these cost-cutting measures be a contributing factor to increased foodborne illness outbreaks?

Tags: E Coli, foodborne illness

This was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.