Food Safety: Pathogen Transmission Routes, Hygiene Practices and Prevention

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Improvements in food safety require initiatives that address risks identified along the 'farm-to-fork continuum'. Two papers in this issue of the Journal look at opposite ends of this continuum; an article by Akoachere et al. examines a common foodborne pathogen (Salmonella Typhimurium) in livestock (1) and Takanashi et al. assess the impact of food hygiene in the home on diarrhoea (2).

Foodborne disease is defined as illness resulting from consumption of contaminated food; food can be contaminated with microbial pathogens or a toxic substance (3). Many common foodborne pathogens are zoonotic (4). To attribute diarrhoeal disease to zoonotic transmission or other transmission routes, data collected for specific pathogens through investigations of outbreaks, analytical studies, and laboratory-based studies can provide insights. Transmission from animals to humans can occur through direct contact (5), consumption or handling of meat (6), consumption of unpasteurized milk (7), untreated water (8,9) or consumption of contaminated fresh produce (10).

In the article by Akoachere et al., microbial sub-typing was used as a means to link Salmonella Typhimurium-related disease in humans with animal reservoirs (1). In investigations of outbreaks, the linkage between humans and animals is clear as there is laboratory evidence, along with information for a specific exposure window (11,12). In analytical studies, epidemiological evidence suggests a link by detecting an elevated risk of being an S. Typhimurium case among those exposed to meats (13) or animal contact (14). These data, however, lack accompanying microbiological evidence. In the article by Akoachere et al. (1), …