Why do new food safety issues emerge?
New food safety issues emerge for many reasons. Sometimes, a microorganism evolves to become pathogenic, or a pathogen evolves to become more virulent. Other times, the change is linked to the people at risk for foodborne illness. For example, they may become more susceptible to illness if their immune system is not functioning at an optimal level, or they may change which foods they eat, potentially exposing themselves to different pathogens. Changes to the microbial environment can provide new vehicles for pathogen contamination of foods. The interrelationship of these factors is so complex that it is impossible to describe all the reasons a food safety issue could emerge.
In addition, a food safety issue can appear to emerge because we have new methods to identify it. The issue may have been around for years, but until we identify the pathogen and link it to food, it doesn’t factor into our understanding of food safety.