Foodborne Illness Investigations Expert Article

When food products are contaminated with the hazards of bacteria, parasites, or viruses, depending on the nature and extent of the contamination, foodborne illness can occur in single individuals as isolated cases or within outbreaks that affect numerous individuals within the population.

In this article, food safety expert Dawn Hill outlines the process of a forensic investigation of foodborne illness caused by an alleged contamination.

Scientific Investigations of Foodborne Illnesses

Most human food is processed and/or handled in some way, from ingredients that go into restaurant menus to retail products on grocery shelves and more. Even fresh produce is processed and handled in some way after it is grown and harvested. Each step of handling/processing from the farm until it is consumed represents a possible risk for contamination by food hazards.

Forensic foodborne illness investigations, involving an expert witness, are typically performed after the likely source(s) of the food contamination have already been identified.

Where organizations like the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and local health agencies are concerned with identifying the source to contain the outbreak, a forensic investigation is more often focused on evaluating whether industry and regulatory food safety standards of care were properly addressed and managed for the suspect food product(s) at each step in the food supply chain.

During the investigation of foodborne illness caused by an alleged contamination, an expert can gain additional insight into potential sources of contamination, or search for evidence of potential contributing factors to known sources of contamination. An expert will also know to investigate if possible cross contamination by the suspect food product to other previously uncontaminated food products occurred.

Discovery Items for Food Contamination Investigations

It’s important to define the scope of the investigation; while some cases may be confined to a single food production facility, others entail multiple points, or locations, along a supply chain.  

By involving an expert during the discovery phase, a food safety expert can help establish a clear picture of the relevant process flow or supply chain.

This investigation and analysis of food safety practices could start with the source (agricultural, live animal processing, etc.), or be confined to other portions of the process, like transportation between locations, processing facilities, storage locations, and ultimately locations where product is handled, prepared, served, or sold directly to consumers.

After the scope of the investigation has been defined, experts will look for evidence of how food safety standards of care were addressed and managed for the product at each relevant step in the supply chain between sources and consumers.

Key information that an expert might request to perform an investigation includes various components of food safety management systems in place at relevant locations. This includes:

• Food Safety Plans
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plans
• Seafood HACCP Plans
• Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) Plans
• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
• Microbiological testing results & corrective actions to findings
• Certificates of Analysis (COA)
• Grower/harvester records
• Production/quality runtime data
• Employee training records
• Consumer complaints
• Product recalls
• Shipping & Receiving records
• Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) food safety audits
• United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections/findings
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections/findings

Inspections & Testing

Part of a foodborne illness investigation could include a site visit and inspection of a facility or processing location by an expert. During site inspections, an expert can visually evaluate and collect photographic evidence of facility and equipment conditions, processes, sanitation practices, and employee practices.

An expert may collect product samples or microbiological swabs for testing. The inspection of exemplar products is common in food safety investigations and often involves purchasing exemplar products (when possible) for comparison, examination, experimentation, measurement, or testing.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants should secure representative exemplar products as early as possible and store them properly. The expert can recommend and facilitate microbiological, chemical, or physical testing of product evidence and perform analysis of results towards the investigation.

Expert Findings: Who is at Fault?

Considering the different categories of food products combined with the various supply chain paths that those products take from sources to consumers, a multitude of scenarios exist in which there is opportunity for contamination:

• Failure to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) such as water quality management and worker hygiene could result in crops becoming contaminated before they are harvested.
• Inadequate sanitation practices such as the usage of incorrect chemical concentrations can fail to kill microorganisms, and result in food contamination.
• A breakdown in temperature control during storage and transport of products which require continuous refrigeration can result in the growth of harmful microorganisms that cause food contamination.
• Deficiencies in fundamental employee practices such as handwashing can lead to food contamination.

Lack of adequate administrative or managerial oversight can be an overarching contributing factor to the presence of deficiencies. Furthermore, an ongoing lack of proper oversight can prevent the prudent identification and correction of deficiencies, leading to the continuance of deficient practices that can result in many opportunities for food contamination over the course of time.

Foodborne Illness Expert Witness Investigations

Regardless of where in the process contamination is suspected, Robson Forensic has experts that can aid in investigations from any point within the system.

For more information, submit an inquiry or call us at 800.813.6736

Featured Expert

Dawn Hill

Chemical Engineer & Food Safety Expert

Dawn Hill is a food processing and food safety expert with 15+ years of experience relevant to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) of food products and the safety of finished food products and workers… read more.