Blog 3

Dear FDA:

Each year, there are an estimated 48 million cases of people getting sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 of those cases end up with the victim dying from food-borne illnesses in the United States reported by the CDC. Restaurants are often the origin for transmission of food-borne illnesses; in 2015, 60% of food-borne illness outbreaks were connected with restaurants. There is also evidence that restaurants, play a role in sporadic cases (cases not involved with the outbreak) of food-borne illness. Instead of taking time from their day to make a proper meal people are going out to all these restaurants for fast food or takeout putting them at a higher risk of catching food-borne illnesses one of the major illnesses being Salmonella. Salmonella infection (salmonellosis) is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. Salmonella bacteria typically live in animal and human intestines and are shed through feces. Humans become infected most frequently through contaminated water or food.

Rates of the Salmonella infection in the United States have not decreased not increased within 20 years. Restaurants are often times considered hotspots for Salmonella outbreaks and sporadic infections. Many studies have examined the effect of posting letter grades for restaurant inspections on the incidence of food-borne illness. One of the studies done was comparing Salmonella infection rates in New York, New York, with those in the rest of New York state before and after they have received a letter grade from restaurant inspections. The results showed that after restaurants received the letter grade, the rate of Salmonella infections decreased 5.3% vs the rest of New York state during 2011–2015. Posting restaurant inspection results as letter grades was associated with a decline in Salmonella infections in New York City and grants consideration for broader use.

A case that happened in 2008 involved A Kansas family that sued San Antonio Taco Co. over problems they experienced after eating salmonella-infected food at the restaurant near Vanderbilt University last August. The Metro Health Department received calls from more than 200 people who said they had symptoms of food poisoning after eating at the popular restaurant August 5^th -7^th. Health officials subsequently confirmed that 11 of those people were infected with salmonella, but officials said they could not pinpoint the exact cause of the outbreak. The restaurant's management closed it voluntarily for an extensive cleaning on Aug. 12-13.

With the research I have done I was able to determine a possible solution for the outbreak of salmonella is to have an inspection made in restaurants more often because once the inspection is made the restaurant workers may not make sure that the food is not cross contaminated or that the restaurant is well maintained. There are many other ways to prevent Salmonella for example: Avoid eating high-risk foods, including raw or lightly cooked eggs, undercooked ground beef or poultry, keep food properly refrigerated before cooking, clean hands with soap and warm water before handling food, clean surfaces before preparing food on them, separate cooked foods from ready-to-eat foods, and cook foods to a safe internal temperature.

Sincerely,

Jesus Alamilla