August 10, 2000
		Seafood Determined to Be #1 Source of Food Poisoning The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has identified seafood as the biggest source of food poisoning in the United States, having caused 237 outbreaks within the last ten years. It is considered an outbreak when two or more people become sickened from a single identified source. The second most likely cause of food poisoning were eggs, usually infecting people with salmonella. Since 1990, there have been 170 food poisoning outbreaks with eggs as the contaminant. "Contaminated seafood and eggs harbor a host of hazards for the unsuspecting consumer, "said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the CSPI. "Unfortunately, the government has done far too little to clean up those foods. Federal food-safety agencies should immediately begin laboratory testing for dangerous bacteria in seafood and eggs." "In addition," she added, "government agencies should monitor conditions in processing plants much more rigorously than they do today." There are an estimated 75 million cases of food poisoning in the United States each year and 5,000 people die from exposure. The most common causes of food poisoning are salmonella, listeria, and a toxic strain of E.coli bacteria. The CSPI recommended that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention create and maintain a database on all food-related poisonings.