Survey of State Health Departments Underscores Gaps in Foodborne Illnes...(o the marketplace and onto consumers' pl...),Health

Nearly 60% (23 out of 39) of the responding states indicate that they are unable to electronically link their investigative data for analysis. An improved food safety system would include data from multiple sources in a single system that investigators can analyze quickly and efficiently.

"A critical step in improving our food safety system is better coordination on the types of information collected and better integration of that data at the state and local level," O'Hara said.

"There are important lessons learned in the data we collected which can lead to best practices being adopted, and ultimately to lives saved," Rosenbaum added.

For a copy of the executive summary and survey, visit producesafetyproject.org.

About the Produce Safety Project (PSP):

The Produce Safety Project at Georgetown University, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, seeks the establishment by the Food and Drug Administration of mandatory and enforceable safety standards for domestic and imported fresh produce, from farm to fork. Our families need to have confidence that federal food safety regulation is based on prevention, scientifically sound risk assessment and management, and coordinated integrated data collection. For more information online, visit www.producesafetyproject.org.

About Safe Tables Our Priority, Inc. (S.T.O.P.):

S.T.O.P. - Safe Tables Our Priority is a national, nonprofit, public health organization dedicated to preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens. In 2009, S.T.O.P. will achieve its mission by advocating changes in public policy, educating and doing outreach, providing victim assistance, and formalizing a victims of foodborne illness registry in order to study the long-term consequences of foodborne disease. S.T.O.P. has been
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