FDA Piloting Ways To Track Tainted Food, Prevent Outbreaks

The death toll from an outbreak of listeria first linked to tainted cantaloupes has risen to 21, and a total of 109 people have been sickened across 23 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Oct. 7.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the death toll from the current outbreak is on track to exceed that of the nation’s worst listeria outbreak, in 1998, which was linked to hot dogs and killed 21 people while sickening 100 more.

The Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to prevent or shorten these outbreaks. It has developed two pilot projects—one for processed foods and the other for produce—to explore how FDA and the food industry can trace foods back to the common source of contamination during an outbreak of foodborne illnesses.

Find more information on the goals and execution of these pilot projects here.”””