Last year, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) received far fewer reports of food-related infections than in 2019. The lower number of infections is probably a result of the measures and advice that applied during the corona epidemic, such as washing hands or closing the catering industry. . This is reported by the RIVM.
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Campylobacter, salmonella and norovirus will continue to be the main causes of food-borne disease outbreaks in 2020. In 2020, a total of 559 food-related outbreaks were recorded, leading to 1,907 people sick. In the previous year, there were 735 outbreaks with 3,058 sick people.
Food-related outbreaks
People can get sick from food if it is contaminated with pathogens. When two or more people get sick from the same food, we call it a food-related outbreak. Doctors and laboratories must report these outbreaks to the GGD. People who suspect that they have become ill due to food can also report this themselves to the NVWA. The numbers mentioned are lower than the actual number of food-related outbreaks and the number of sick people. This is partly because not everyone who is ill goes to the general practitioner or informs the NVWA. The actual number of food-related infections in the Netherlands was estimated at about half a million last year.
Crownmaatregelen
Food-related infections can often be prevented by working hygienically in the kitchen. This means washing hands before cooking, using different cutting boards and knives for raw and cooked food, and letting the food cook properly. The (attention to) the corona measures may have led to behavioral change. The closure of catering establishments or the ban on meetings could also be a cause of the decline. In addition, there may also be a lower number of people who contacted a (general) doctor in case of illness.
By: National Care Guide
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