FDA releases foodborne illness risk factors report

9/12/2000-The FDA has released the "Report of the FDA Retail Food Program Database of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors". The report establishes a baseline to measure how effective industry and regulatory efforts are in changing behaviors and practices that directly relate to food-borne illness in the retail food industry. By establishing a baseline, FDA will be better able to measure compliance with its Food Code. Data collected from nearly 900 institutional food service establishments, restaurants, and retail food stores showed that the risk factors in need of greatest attention were: improper holding times and temperatures, contaminated equipment / cross contamination, and poor personal hygiene. The FDA expects that an improvement in compliance with the Food Code provisions that address these risk factors may have a direct impact on reducing the occurrence of food-borne illness. The complete report can be accessed online on the FDA website.