In 2019, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and the Municipal Health Services registered fewer outbreaks of food-related infections and poisoning than in 2018. It is not known whether there were fewer outbreaks last year or whether there were only fewer reports. Norovirus remains the main cause of foodborne illness outbreaks. This is evident from the registration of food-related outbreaks in the Netherlands in 2018-2019.
In 2019, NVWA and GGD registered a total of 735 food-related outbreaks, in which 3,058 people became ill. In 2018, that number was 756 outbreaks, with 2,805 sick. As in previous years, Norovirus remains the leading cause of recorded food-related outbreaks, followed by Salmonella and Campylobacter.
Food can make people sick. If two or more people get sick at the same time after eating the same food, it is called a food-related outbreak. Treating doctors and laboratories must report these outbreaks to the GGDs. People who suspect that they have become ill due to food can also report this to the NVWA themselves.
The figures quoted 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 a doctor or informs the NVWA. The actual number of food-related infections in the Netherlands is estimated at around 650,000 per year.
More information can be found in the publication Registration of food-related outbreaks in the Netherlands, 2018-2019 on the RIVM website.
Source: RIVM
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