Making Food Safer to Eat: Prevention from Farm to Table infographic

Making Food Safer to Eat: Prevention from Farm to Table infographic

Vital Signs

Updated Oct. 16, 2013
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Making Food Safer to Eat

Prevention from the Farm to the Table

Lessons learned from Salmonella outbreaks

 

This diagram illustrates the different places on the farm to the table chain where food was contaminated with Salmonella.

 

SOURCE: CDC, 2010.

Prevention from the Farm to the Table

Lessons learned from Salmonella outbreaks

Production

Risky eggs, 2010: Chicken and feed contamination results in 500M eggs recalled. Cause: Salmonella Enteritidis (SE).

Prevention

Require preventive controls for egg producers such as buying chicks from suppliers with SE control programs, testing poultry houses for SE, and setting temperature requirements for storing and transporting eggs.

Manufacturing

Peanut butter crackers to pet treats, 2009: Processing plant contamination results in many foods causing sickness in 46 states. Cause: Salmonella Typhimurium.

Prevention

Keep factories clean, separate raw and processed foods, ensure that steps to reduce contamination work.

Manufacturing

Tainted turkey burgers, 2011: 50,000 lbs of ground turkey recalled following illness in 10 states. Cause: Salmonella Hadar.

Prevention

Employ pre-harvest food safety strategies to reduce Salmonella in animals, prevent contamination at slaughter, reduce contamination of ground product from all sources, ensure that steps to reduce contamination work.

Distribution and Delivery

Contaminated ice cream, 1994: Trucks hauling raw eggs, then ice cream, sicken 200,000 nationwide. Cause: Salmonella Enteritidis (SE).

Prevention

Clean and disinfect trucks between loads, keep cold shipments at correct temperatures, track shipments and storage.

Preparation and Consumption (Restaurants/Grocery stores)

Germs spread in restaurants, 2008: Poor kitchen practices cause food to be undercooked and cross-contaminated. Cause: Salmonella Montevideo.

Prevention

Cook chicken and meats thoroughly, separate raw chicken and meats from other foods, train and certify managers in food safety in all restaurants.

Preparation and Consumption (Restaurants/Homes)

Frozen pot pies, microwaves, and cooking instructions, 2007: Undercooked pies sicken people in 35 states, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. Cause: Salmonella I,4,[5],12:i:-.

Prevention

Make sure cooking instructions are clear and correct, use a food thermometer, ensure that manufacturers indicate power levels on microwave ovens.