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Produce Marketing Association
The Produce Marketing Association (PMA), recognizing that its members either have or will soon need to establish food safety programs, has created a Food Safety Resource Center on its website. Michele Jay-Russell wrote two articles on the role of epidemiology in investigation of foodborne illness outbreak investigations (below). PMA’s Dr. Bob Whitaker interviewed Jay-Russell about epidemiology for his blog.
From the PMA website: “Epidemiology is the cornerstone of public health investigation and discovery. Public health practitioners rely on epidemiologic associations to help determine the source of foodborne disease outbreaks and implement control measures. Epidemiologic studies frequently provide new insights into emerging foodborne pathogens and food vehicles. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the principles and practices of epidemiology in the context of foodborne disease outbreaks.
In Part 2 of our piece on epidemiology, a hypothetical epidemiological investigation has been constructed to provide insight into the roles of various public health professionals and their activities during the identification and examination of a food borne illness. This case is typical of many that the produce industry has witnessed over the last several years and describes the protocols that are followed by health care professionals as the local, county, state and federal levels.“
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