The CDC reduces a large food security program – what it means for you

A government program that monitors food poisoning at the national level has reduced its operations, NBC News reported Tuesday.

The Food-Food Diseases Active Surveillance Network (Foodnet), a collaboration between federal health agencies and 10 state health services, was previously due to Follow food diseases caused by Eight pathogens.

On July 1st, He only has to monitor two: Salmonella and toxin shiga producer E. coli (Stec), according to NBC News.

A spokesperson for the United States Ministry of Health and Social Services (HHS) confirmed this information to HealthAnd said other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will continue to be the national surveillance of the six remaining pathogens.

However, food security experts are concerned about the fact that the change Compromise public health And Increase the risk of food poisoning.

“It would be like the FAA by saying that we are just going to focus on American and delta plane accidents, and we are not [worrying] On accidents that occur from the Southwest, United, Alaska, Spirit, Jetblue and the border, “said Donald W. Schaffner, doctoral student, president of the department, professor and specialist in food sciences at Rutgers University, said Health.

Foodnet was created in 1995 for Monitor and respond to foods of food in the United States

The network consists of the CDC, the American Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the health services of 10 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgie, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, California and New York.

Foodnet surveillance covers 16% of the American population, or around 54 million people. But Teresa Bergholz, PHD, associate professor in the Department of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University, said Health That data from this pool is used to estimate the incidence of foods of food origin for the entire American population.

Target actively Monitoring for infections And follows trends over time To see if our food supply becomes safer, more risky or remains the same, Schaffner explained, which contributes to clarifying federal regulations and the practices of the food industry.

The network also plays a Key role in the response in public health during an epidemic. When an epidemic occurs, state health laboratories generally detect pathogens of patient samples and report data to CDC, said Bergholz. Foodnet can then use this information to identify contaminated food and inform the public of the threat.

Before July, Foodnet was Required to follow foods of food caused by Six additional pathogens: Listeria, Campylobacter, Shigella, Cyclospora, Vibrio, And Yersinia.

According to the HHS spokesperson, the reason for retraining is to “allow Foodnet staff to Prioritize basic activities. »»

NBC News also cited another reason for the change, taken from a list of discussion points of the CDC shared with the public health department of Connecticut and obtained by Nbc:: “Funding has not followed the pace With the resources necessary to maintain the continuation of Foodnet surveillance for the eight pathogens. »»

As for the decision to continue to monitor Salmonella And Stec, the HHS spokesman, said the two pathogens were among the five main contributors to foods of food origin, hospitalizations and deaths in America. They are also targets from Healthy People 2030, an HHS initiative aimed at improving public health, including the reduction of foods of food origin.

It should be noted, however, that Listeria And Campylobacter are also included on these lists.

The HHS spokesman said there was still national surveillance Of the six pathogens, as through the national system for monitoring notifiable diseases, but Foodnet is the only system that actively monitors food disease at the national level, NBC News reported.

States In Foodnet can Choose to continue monitoring pathogens, but according to NbcThe answer was varied, and will probably depend on funding.

For example, the Maryland Department of Health will continue to monitor the eight pathogens because it is necessary at the level of the state. But the Ministry of Public Health and the Environment of Colorado said Nbc He will have to release his active surveillance for certain pathogens if funding is reduced in 2026.

Experts Health spoken to say This level of staff reduction endangers the safety of our food.

Schaffner underlined the CDC data revealing that The six pathogens always have a risk For consumers, in particular more vulnerable populations – offenses, pregnant people, the elderly and immunodeprimed – who are more likely to undergo potentially fatal infection from a food of food.

“We know, and we know that these are things that are associated with food poisoning,” added Lewis Ziska, PHD, associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Health, who worked at USDA for more than 20 years. “Why would you suddenly decide that you want to stop watching it?”

Schaffner was particularly concerned on the decision to stop requiring surveillance for Campylobacter And Listeria diseases.

“CDC’s own data believe that we have more diseases and hospitalizations from Campylobacter that we do Salmonella, ” He said. “It seems to me to be a terrible idea of ​​removing an important work on bacterial species which causes more diseases and hospitalizations than any other.”

As of ListeriaThe pathogen may not cause many infections, but the cases may be serious – this is one of the main causes of death by food of food.

Change could also “Impact at what speed is certain epidemics are detected, As Foodnet focuses on active surveillance of target pathogens, “said Bergholz.” The faster detection of epidemics also means more information available for the public on the source of the epidemic and which product should be avoided. “”

While government surveillance is the most effective way to keep pathogens out of food, Ziska said Health that it can be useful to Parefully pay particular attention to basic food security practices at that time. These include:

• Separate the meat and produce in cooking
• Rinse produced thoroughly
• Cook meat at a safe internal temperature
• Cleaning of cooking surfaces and utensils often
• Storage and correctly refrigerate food

According to the CDC, the The most common symptoms of food poisoning are:

If you feel food poisoning, drink a lot of liquids to prevent dehydration and plan to speak to a doctor if your symptoms do not disappear in a week.

“”[Food poisoning] Do not necessarily succeed in your death, although this may, “said Ziska.” But it is very painful and something to avoid at all costs. “”