Registratie voedselinfecties en -vergiftigingen bij de Inspectie voor de Gezondheidszorg en de Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, 2007

The number of people reported ill due to a foodborne infection has remained low over the last two years. In 2006, most of these patients were infected with norovirus, but Salmonella was the cause behind most of the hospital admissions. This is concluded from an analysis made by the RIVM. The analysis is based on registration data from the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (VWA) and the Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ). In 2006, the VWA received 530 reports from consumers about foodborne infections. Although this number is close to that of the 535 reports in 2005, fewer patients were involved. This suggests a decreasing trend in the number of patients affected by foodborne infections. This trend has also been noted (although slightly less) by the IGZ, where the mandatory reports from physicians are registered. Here, the number of reported foodborne infections was 143 in 2001 but has fluctuated around 90 per year since 2004. In 2006, the most important causative agents of foodborne infections were norovirus, Campylobacter and Salmonella. The majority of these cases (280 patients) were caused by norovirus infection. However, Salmonella was still responsible for 79% of the 25 hospital admissions for foodborne infections. Moreover, it should be noted that in spite of increased attention, the local municipal health services (GGD) and the VWA still do not identify norovirus often enough as the cause of a foodborne infection. The number of cases reported to the VWA and the IGZ are substantially lower than the actual number that occurs, which is estimated at 300 000 to 750 000 cases per year. This suggests that continuous attention should be paid to food safety by the government, producers, suppliers, and handlers of food and by consumers. Consumers can acquire a foodborne infection by eating raw or undercooked food, through poor hygiene or cross contamination during handling or stocking of food products. The RIVM recommends stimulating the circulation of good advice on proper food handling.