Risks Associated with Vehicles of Foodborne Pathogens and Toxins

A review of foodborne disease surveillance data from the United States for the years 1977 through 1984 was made to ascertain the relative importance of various foods as vehicles; 1,586 incidents were tabulated. Data are given for all outbreaks and for individual diseases. Foods were classified by category, class and item. Seafoods, meats, poultry and salads were the most frequently implicated categories. The most frequently implicated items were roast beef, ham, turkey, chicken and raw clams. Chinese foods, usually fried rice and Mexican-style foods usually ground or shredded meat or pinto beans were also commonly implicated. Of the salads, potato and chicken salads were identified more frequently than other salads. Mahi-mahi was the most common vehicle of scombrotoxin; amberjack/jack was the most common vehicle of ciguatoxin; roast beef and turkey were the most common vehicles of C. perfringens and salmonellae; ham was the most common vehicle of staphylococcal enterotoxin; potato salad was the most common vehicle of shigellae; peppers were the most common vehicle of botulinum toxin; and fried rice was the most common vehicle of B. cereus toxins. Relative risk for each food is discussed in reference to assessing hazards and setting food safety priorities.