Food terrorismFood-related disease outbreaks can teach us about the consequence of food terrorism
Since unintentional food-related outbreaks have become so common, policy makers could use data from unintended foodborne disease outbreaks to estimate the effects of intended foodborne disease outbreaks. The impact on trade and economies is the primary motive for food terrorism, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but beyond the financial loss, such intended foodborne disease outbreaks may even impact political stability.
The 1993 Jack in the Box Escherichia coli (E. coli) outbreak and the 9/11 terror attack both have similarities in that both events changed how America viewed safety and security, both represented risks to financial and economic stability, and both incidents resulted in new industries in areas of public health and homeland security.
In 2002, the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), adopted a resolution detailing concerns about threats against civilian populations by the use of agents distributed via food. WHO also published Terrorist Threats to Food — a document advising government policy makers on the threats to global health security through food safety.
Focusing on food as food ingredients and water-in the forms of food ingredients and bottled water, WHO defines the threat to food safety or food terrorism as “an act or threat of deliberate contamination of food for human consumption with biological, chemical, and physical agents or radionuclear materials for the purpose of causing injury or death to civilian populations and/or disrupting social, economic or political stability.”
According to Food Safety Magazine, a 2013 report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that E. Coli and other foodborne pathogen outbreaks have not decreased over the last twenty years. The study notes 67,752 reported illnesses connected to 13,405 food-related outbreaks reported between 1998 and 2008. Since unintentional food-related outbreaks have become so common, are government agencies prepared to prevent intentional food-related outbreaks? Policy makers could use data from unintended foodborne disease outbreaks to estimate the effects of intended foodborne disease outbreaks.
The WHO’s document relies on data from unintended foodborne disease outbreaks to outline the potential effects of food terrorism. Past recalls in American markets of foreign fruits have resulted in the bankruptcy of international growers and shippers. The WHO details specific events in recent history when individual U.S. recalls on domestic ground beef contaminated with E. coli and lunch meats with contaminated Listeria resulted in the loss of millions of pounds of each affected products. Both recalls also resulted in an estimated loss of $44 million and $61 million, respectively. The impact on trade and economies is the primary motive for food terrorism, according to the WHO, but beyond the financial loss, such intended foodborne disease outbreaks may even impact political stability. Better understanding of the global food industry’s failures will be critical in preventing intentional violations of the food system.
