Food safety surveillance and response.

T he food safety community is eagerly awaiting the first results of pilot studies from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Initiative to Estimate the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases, which are due later this year. These studies were conducted in recognition of the growing threat posed by foodborne diseases worldwide to provide precise and comprehensive information on the magnitude of foodborne diseases to guide food safety policy, including the development and implementation of food safety standards in the context of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and provide a baseline for monitoring and impact assessment of food safety measures. The Initiative operates through its advisory body, the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) and comprises two main components: (1) Track 1 at global level FERG (i) conducts epidemiological and toxicological reviews for mortality, morbidity and disability in each of the major foodborne diseases; (ii) assembles, appraises and reports on existing burden of foodborne disease estimates; (iii) provides models for the estimation of foodborne disease burden where data is lacking; (iv) develops source attribution models to estimate the proportion of disease that is foodborne; and (v) develops user-friendly tools for burden of foodborne diseases studies and policy situation analyses at country level. (2) Track 2 focuses on burden of foodborne disease studies at country level which will provide first hand burden estimates and supplement FERG's epidemiological reviews.This will be supported by policy interventions to ensure that the burden data are meaningful to end-users and to foster research-up take. As more burden of foodborne disease studies become available, the understanding of foodborne disease will transform from a limited diarrhoeal disease a and Angelika Tritscher b focus to one inclusive of a wide spectrum of foodborne illnesses, including chemical-related illnesses and relevant noncommunicable diseases. These studies also aim to address the problems posed by underreporting. 1 Surveillance systems are a key source of information to inform the burden of foodborne disease estimates. It is accepted internationally that surveillance systems have a dual purpose; the first is to detect, control and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Most countries of the WHO Western Pacific Region have such surveillance and response systems in place, but the effectiveness and coverage of those systems vary widely from country to country. Norton et al 2 and Gunaratnam et al 3 outline such foodborne disease outbreak investigations, including their detection and control through food safety mechanisms. Johnston 4 discusses the food safety …