Washington—A new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) uses import refusal data from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2002 to 2019 to explore import refusals based on contamination with pathogens and toxins.
From 2002 to 2019, most pathogen/toxin violations occurred in fishery and seafood products (44.1 percent), followed by spices, flavors, and salts (26.3 percent), cheese and cheese products (7.1 percent), fruit and fruit products (6.2 percent), and nuts and edible seeds (5.1 percent).
Salmonella was the most common type of pathogen/toxin violation for fishery and seafood products; spices, flavors, and salts; fruit and fruit products; and nuts and edible seeds. Listeria was the most common type of pathogen/toxin violation for cheese and cheese products, the report noted.
While data capable of estimating the risk of foodborne illness to US consumers from foreign producers is limited, US import refusal data list the most common reasons foreign shipments were refused, the report noted. FDA physically examines approximately 1 to 2 percent of imports.
All imports are electronically screened using an automated system
called Predictive Risk-based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance
Targeting (PRE-DICT). FDA inspects imports for signs of adulteration or
misbranding. Import refusals are recorded in the Operational and
Administrative System for Import Support (OASIS) database where each
entry has a violation code, industry group, and country of origin.
Even
though OASIS is a rich data set for import refusal, it has limitations,
the ERS report noted. First, the total volume or value of each shipment
is not revealed, so it is hard to identify which product had the
largest threat to food safety for the US market. Second, FDA does not
randomly choose a sample to inspect; the inspectors choose a sample
based on informed choice from their previouis experiences.
Despite
these limitations, OASIS data continuously recorded shipment refusal
over decades, which makes them useful for analyzing trends and patterns
of imported food both inspected and refused by FDA.
The
ERS report examines the number of import refusals for various bacteria
(e.coli 0157), Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, and Vibrio), a virus
(Hepatitis A), and some toxins (aflatoxin, histamine, and patulin) from
2002 to 2019. These types of refusals are referred to as pathogen/toxin
violations.
Refusals By Pathogen, Industry
From 2002 to 2019, 22,459 pathogen/toxin violations were detected.
The
majority of them, 17,922, had the presence of Salmonella, which
accounts for 79.8 percent of the total pathogen/toxin violations.
Listeria
is next with 2,463 cases (11 percent), followed by histamine,
aflatoxin, and other bacteria with 804 (3.6 percent), 663 (3 percent),
and 455 violations (2 percent), respectively. The rest of the refused
shipments due to other pathogens numbered just 153 cases.
Compared
to the previous ERS report (2008), the share of Salmonella violations
increased from 63 percent over the 1998-2004 period to 79.8 percent over
2002-19. Listeria violations decreased from 24.8 percent over 1998-2004
to 11 percent over 2002-19.
Refusals
because of Salmonella increased from 924 violations in 2009 to 2,258
violations in 2011. These spikes were largely driven by fishery and
seafood products, and fruits and fruit products.
After
that spike, Salmonella violations continuously declined over time. One
possible explanation for the continuous decline in import refusals,
according to the report, is the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA),
which substantially expanded and modified FDA’s previous authority to
enhance its oversight of imported food. As a result, FSMA could provide
PREDICT with more data on imported food.
As
far as the remaining four leading pathogen/toxins, Listeria, histamine,
aflatoxin, and other bacteria have either trended downward or remained
relatively stable.
The
notable exception is the decline in Listeria violations from 300 cases
in 2003 to 68 cases in 2007. This plunge mainly came from a large
Listeria decrease in cheese and cheese products.Listeria violations,
like Salmonella, increased during 2010-12.
Following
the two most frequent industries, cheese and cheese products, fruits
and fruit products, nuts and edible seeds, and vegetables and vegetable
products each accounted for more than 4 percent of the total violations.
Each of the remaining industries accounted for less than 2 percent of
violations.
Overall,
Salmonella was the most common violation in each industry except cheese
and cheese products, in which Listeria had the most violations.
Salmonella
and Listeria are the main drivers for the seven industry groups most
frequently noted for pathogen/toxin violations. The cheese industry
accounted for the largest portion of pathogen/toxin violations because
of Listeria in the early 2000s, the report said. Average Listeria
violations of cheese products fell from 150 in the early 2000s to 12 in
the late 2010s.
Over
the study period, 110 countries had at least one pathogen/toxin
violation. India had the most pathoge-related violations with 5,115
refusals, followed by Mexico with 3,338 violations. Vietnam and
Indonesia followed with more than 1,700 refusals over the study period.
And France had 971 refusals over the period.
Except
for France, Salmonella caused the majority of refusals in the other 16
countries that accounted for 1 percent or more import refusals. Of the
971 pathogen/toxin violations found from France, Listeria accounted for
863 violations, or 88.9 percent.
One
possible explanation why many cheese products from France were refused
is due to close monitoring of Listeria by FDA, the report said. The
largest number of cheese products made from raw milk came from France
and, according to the CDC, soft cheeses made with raw milk are more
likely to be contaminated by Listeria than other pathogens, such as
Salmonella.