A report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has identified the top ten riskiest foods regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The foods on the list are those that accounted for the most reports of foodborne illnesses and deaths characterized as outbreaks according to the Center's for Disease Control (CDC) between 1990 and 2006.

The most dangerous food on the list was "leafy greens" which accounted for 363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness. The other nine most risky foods included eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, and berries. According to the CSPI report, these top ten foods accounted for more than 40 percent of all food related outbreaks between 1990 and 2006.

The report details how the different foods on the list can become contaminated and with what. For example, leafy greens are sometimes contaminated with E coli bacteria via contact with wild animals, manure, contaminated water, or via poor handling practices during harvest. 

 

As part of the release of the report, the CPSI issued a statement urging the US Senate to pass the "Food Safety Modernization Act" which would give the FDA authority to "require food processors to design and implement food safety plans, provide specific safety standards that growers would have to meet, and require FDA to visit high-risk facilities every 12 months or less, and most other facilities every 3-4 years."  The statement stressed that the report was not aimed at encouraging consumers not to eat these products - rather to encourage more oversight.

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