Fighting Against Food Pathogens

During its first five years, IFSAC developed a new food categorization scheme, which CDC now uses to classify food implicated in outbreaks, as well as an agreed-upon method for estimating sources of foodborne illnesses. In its latest strategic plan, IFSAC outlines three goals for 2017-2021: 1) improve the use and quality of new and existing data sources, 2) improve analytic methods and models, and 3) enhance communications about its analytic products.

1. Data sources. Current sources, such as for foodborne illness outbreaks, are valuable but also incomplete and inconsistent. To address this, IFSAC will acquire additional data sources such as regulatory sampling data and WGS information. IFSAC will also work with state and local public health and regulatory agencies to obtain more and better outbreak reporting.
2. Analytic methods. While there’s been progress in applying new methods and models for attributing foodborne illnesses, no best data sources or approaches have been identified. IFSAC will expand its scientific exchanges to identify gaps, develop ways to incorporate sporadic illness surveillance data, and integrate multiple data sources into estimates and analyses.
3. Enhance communications. Because foodborne illness attribution is complex and constantly changing, effective communication with health practitioners, academics, industry, and the public is vitally important. IFSAC intends to improve and expand these relationships.

“It is always positive to see different parts of the government collaborating on food safety issues, although, as always, the issues are lack of funding and lack of time to move things forward,” says David Acheson, MD, founder and CEO of the Acheson Group and a former FDA associate commissioner for foods. “But we should always be looking to do more because there is always more to do,” he says.