| ■ Grocery Store Shopper Cards Used to Identify Salmonella Source | 2010.03.12 |
| For the first time in a food safety investigation, U.S. officials used grocery store shopper cards to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 245 people in 44 states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigators got permission from patients to use their shopper cards to track their food purchases. Using this information, the CDC team was led to salami made by a Rhode Island company and then determined that pepper used to season the meat was the source of the salmonella, the Associated Press reported. This is the first time that data compiled by supermarket chains were successfully used by the CDC to pinpoint the source of a foodborne illness outbreak. |