The summer season welcomes warmer weather and with it, frequent outdoor gatherings with friends, family and delicious food. But summer also brings an increase in cases of foodborne illness, according to the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Considering that one in six Americans suffer from foodborne illness each year, it's important for retailers to understand its causes and educate customers so that food remains safe after leaving the store.
Hidden risks and clear concerns
The human eye can't detect whether a product is contaminated, making foodborne illness an especially tricky threat. It leads to nausea, hospitalizations and even death in some cases, and costs the U.S. economy more than $15.6 billion each year.
Sometimes food recalls can alert customers to contamination, like in the recent case of the romaine lettuce E.coli outbreak. However, recalls don't protect everyone from foodborne illness. And these incidents can be especially damaging to a retailer's reputation. According to the 2017 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient?, which measures companies' reputation strength based on the perceptions of more than 23,000 Americans, 65 percent of Americans cite product recall due to contamination as one of the top damaging scenarios to corporate reputation.
Top causes of foodborne illness
Food can be contaminated at different points in time, including during handling, preparation and storage. Retailers must understand the common causes of foodborne illness, including:
When retailers increase their focus on food safety and educate customers about keeping food safe once it reaches their homes, they provide patrons with better quality products and greater peace of mind, allowing them to enjoy the summer season and worry less about foodborne illness.
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[1] http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/digestive-diseases/foodborne-illnesses/Pages/facts.aspx#2