Improving Food Safety in Meat and Poultry: Will New Regulations Benefit Consumers?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that food­ borne disease remams one of the most common and important cases of illness and deaths (Harman, et al., 1991). According to researchers at CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 6.5 million to 33 million illnesses and up to 9,000 deaths may occur each year from foodborne pathogens (namely, bactena, parasites, virus­ es, and fungi). For just the few foodborne bacterial and parasitic diseases for which there are cost estimates, medical costs, and lost productivity cost society $6.5 to $35 bil­ lion annually (Buzby and Roberts, 1996)