By the Numbers

—According to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system in nearly 300 of the nation’s largest food production plants, which took place in 1998, has been an unquestionable success. Preliminary data, Glickman told a recent gathering at the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association’s Annual Convention in Atlanta, shows the percentage of ground beef samples testing positive for Salmonella has dropped from 7.5% to 4.3% since the implementation of HACCP—a 40% decline. Of chicken carcasses, 20.0% tested positive for Salmonella before HACCP versus 10.7% following implementation—a 50% decline.

—According to the National Chicken Counsel (NCC), the trade association for America’s chicken production and processing industry, Americans currently purchase more than 74 pounds of chicken every year, placing chicken well ahead of its competitors, beef and pork, in popularity. In pure dollar amounts, says the NCC, Americans purchased approximately $35 billion worth of chicken in 1998.

—Meanwhile, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) counters that the American beef industry, as the largest segment of the U.S. economy, comprises 17.5% of America’s Gross National Product and contributes $153 billion dollars directly and indirectly into the national economy. A 1998 study by Information Resources, Inc. determined that each year, Americans spend more than $17 billion on retail beef products.

—Just a reminder regarding the numbers on Listeria: The FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition estimates that between 1 and 10% of all people are carriers of Listeria monocytogenes, and that the microorganism has been found in 37 other mammals and in at least 17 species of birds. (Not to mention that the microorganisms can be found almost anywhere in soil and water, and on vegetation.) The Centers for Disease Control, meanwhile, estimates there are 1,850 recorded cases of listeriosis each year in America, causing an estimated 425 deaths annually—which represents a frighteningly high 23% fatality rate.

—How much ink did the recent Sara Lee Listeria scare generate? Not nearly as much as the 1997 recall of 25 million pounds of contaminated ground beef by Hudson Foods in Columbus, Nebraska. According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, the Sara Lee story was worthy of a mere 70 print articles during the first month following product recall; there were nearly 400 such stories written about Hudson foods. During those first 30 days, USA Today alone wrote 13 stories about Hudson, compared to only one about Sara Lee. The New York Times and Washington Post wrote 24 and 16 stories on Hudson, respectively, compared to a combined four stories on Sara Lee.

—America’s sugar consumption is “off the charts and rising,” warns Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). In a letter written to the secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Health and Agriculture, Jacobson said that sugar now accounts for 16% of the calories eaten by the average American and 20% of calories consumed by teenagers. According to the USDA, a daily diet of 2,000 calories should include no more than 10 teaspoons of added sugar. USDA surveys, however, show that most Americans eat roughly double that amount.