The recent peanut butter salmonella outbreak has become part of an alarming trend. Many fear the trend will continue and even intensify given the global nature of our food industry and the transportation of food across state borders.
Many are also correctly concerned that the outbreak du jour from the tainted peanut butter and the reported 677 cases of salmonella and 9 deaths don’t tell the whole story.
This is due, in part, to the fact that few people go to the doctor for what may be confused as flu-like symptoms and even fewer doctors run salmonella tests for the symptoms typical to salmonella poisoning. Increased testing could prevent additional cases by determining the source of the salmonella earlier while also establishing how widespread a problem officials are addressing.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
