A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF FOODBORNE DISEASE

To be informed about foodborne diseases is a basic requirement for the production of safe food. Establishing the patterns of disease facilit ates policy decisions, provides a basis for legislative action and the development of intervention strategies, and helps to set priorities i n relation to research investments. The information on foodborne disea ses made available indicates that foodborne disease is increasing worl dwide and that new and emerging problems get through current safety pr ocedures. Reasons for this include the increasing globalization of foo d production and trade, the application of new process technologies, c hanging eating habits, and increasing human migration. However, additi onal and more adequate information is needed for a rapid recognition o f new and emerging foodborne diseases. Information is also deemed nece ssary for a risk analysis approach to safe food production. This appli es especially to identifying hazards and gaining information about dos e-response relationships. There are several ways to obtain such inform ation: (i) a more extended analysis of reported food-associated incide nts of disease, including gaining information about the dose-response relationship, (ii) application of sentinel and population studies for specific pathogenic agents, (iii) case-control studies to identify and quantify risk factors, and (iv) calculation of human exposure and tra nslating the exposure by dose-response relationship into disease.To pr otect the consumer, both food producers and governments have their res ponsibilities in actively collecting the necessary information about f oodborne disease and where necessary actively making use of risk commu nication.