Leafy greens, eggs, and tuna are on the top of a list of the 10 riskiest foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Those and seven other foods account for nearly 40 percent of all foodborne outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated food. 
That's no reason to forgo salads, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which wrote a report on risky foods, nor pass up tomatoes, sprouts, and berries, even though those foods are also on the list.
But the consumer advocacy group says the presence of so many healthy foods on such a list is why the U.S. Senate should follow the House and pass legislation that reforms outdated food safety laws.
The FDA is responsible for regulating produce, seafood, egg, and dairy products, as well as packaged foods such as cookie dough and peanut butter – nearly 80 percent of the food supply.
More than 1,500 separate outbreaks were associated with the top 10 riskiest FDA-regulated foods, causing nearly 50,000 reported illnesses, reports CSPI. Since most foodborne illnesses are never reported, these outbreaks are only small part of a much larger problem.
Advertisement
CSPI identified 363 outbreaks linked to iceberg lettuce, romaine, spinach, and other leafy greens, contaminated with E. coli, Norovirus, or Salmonella, and causing 13,568 cases of illness. Manure, contaminated irrigation water, or poor handling practices are all possible culprits in those outbreaks, CSPI’s research shows.
The FDA doesn’t currently require farms and processors to have written food safety plans, nor does it provide specific safety standards for growers – even the largest companies – to meet.
Eggs were linked 352 outbreaks and 11,163 illnesses; tuna to 268 outbreaks and 2,341 cases of illness; and oysters to 132 outbreaks causing 3,409 illnesses. Outbreaks involving potatoes don’t often make headlines, but they’re linked to 108 outbreaks and 3,659 cases of illness. Cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, and berries round out the top 10 list.
The data come from CSPI's Outbreak Alert! Database, which includes outbreaks from 1990 to 2006, using data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources.
"As consumers, we don't have the power to check on these products," said Kathleen Chrismer, whose 9-year-old daughter Rylee Gustafson was hospitalized for a month after becoming seriously ill from eating spinach salad contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. "Without a better system to protect us, we are totally at the mercy of the next outbreak."
