The occurrence of incidents and accidents caused by food in recent years is not without relation to the changes observed in our eating habits and in the social structure.
    The first is the increase in imported food products. In Japan, 60 percent of the food products consumed daily relies on imports from foreign countries. According to the Imported Food Surveillance Statistics issued by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labour, the notified weight of food products imported in 2004 was 34.27 million tons, and the number of notified cases reached 1.79 million. The reason for this increase is that imported foods are packaged in a smaller size and diversified. It is extremely difficult to know exactly how all these food products are manufactured, processed and distributed in the exporting countries.
    The second is the advances in food mass production, mass distribution and concentration. The handling of an enormous volume of food products will result in a huge number of victims once accidents occur. Approximately 8,000 children fell sick and five of them died in an accident caused in 1966 by food poisoning due to enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli 0157, after eating school meals. In this incident, it was assumed that the same food ingredients used in school meals were probably contaminated at the production stage. Around 13,000 people were sick in an incident caused by staphylococcus poisoning in milk beverages in 2000. This was caused by the growth of staphylococci in milk beverages due to a mishap, power outage, during the production and processing stage of the drinks, and by the formation of heat-resistant enterotoxins.
Status of food poisoning
    According to the Food poisoning Statistics of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labour, the total number of cases in 2005 (preliminary figures) decreased both in terms of number of outbreaks and number of patients compared to the year 2004 (Table1). Though the number of outbreaks due to bacterial food poisoning in 2005 decreased by 7.5% compared to 2004, the number of patients soared by 27.5%. On the other hand, the number of viral food poisoning incidents in 2005 was roughly the same as in 2004, but the number of patients declined by 30.4%. The incidence of food poisoning by month shows that over 100 incidents of bacterial food poisoning occurred each month in summer from June to September, and that more than 50 incidents of viral food poisoning were observed each month in winter in January and December.
    Over 1,500 patients were affected with viral food poisoning in January, March and December 2004 and in January and December 2005. On the other hand, patients suffering from bacterial food poisoning were noted in July~September 2004 and in May~September 2005. It is clear that bacterial food poisoning occurs frequently in summer and that viral food poisoning in winter (Figure 1).

    The comparison of the incidents of food poisoning in 2004 and 2005 by pathogen shows a decrease in those due to Genus Salmonella, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Bacillus cereus and an increase in those caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia.coli andCampylobacter jejuni/coli . In particular an increase from 558 incidents to 645 (15.6%) was noted with campylobacter.
    The incidence of food poisoning by pathogens in 2005, those due to Campylobacter were the highest, 48%, followed by Norovirus (20%), Salmonella (11%), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (8%), etc. Bacterial food poisoning accounted for 80% of all the incidents.
    By patients, cases of Norovirus food poisoning were the highest (34%), followed by Salmonella (15%), Campylobacter (14%), Clostridium prefringens (10%), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (9%), Staphylococcus aureus(8%) and pathogenic Escherichia coli (7%).
Prevention of foodborne infections
    According to a survey by food safety monitors through a questionnaire, the greatest concern of consumers was food contamination by pesticides. The response rate reached approximately 68%. Many also replied that they worried about germ contamination (response rate: around 47%). Thus food contamination by microorganisms accounts for a major proportion among the risks threatening food safety. Since various species of microorganisms live in rivers and in seas and oceans in their natural environment as well as in farms and ranches where food products are made, these germs adhere to foods how fresh they may be. All of those organisms attached to food products are not necessarily pathogenic to human. However, pathogenic germs causing diseases in humans may be present among those living in the natural world. Therefore, food poisoning will occur if food products contaminated with microorganisms are not handled properly.
    The first step to be taken in the prevention of food poisoning is to know which microorganism may possibly adhere to which food product and to take measures to avoid contamination by these germs.
    Campylobacter adheres to poultry at a significant rate. Norovirus adheres to bivalve shell such as oysters, etc., and it contaminates food through the fingers of infected individuals or carriers having consumed raw shellfish. Salmonella often contaminates meat and eggs. It is important for the prevention of foodborne infections to provide information to the consumers on the ecology of the natural world of these pathogenic microorganisms causing food poisoning .
    The second step in the prevention of food poisoning is to avoid food contamination during cooking. The basic measures are: (1) avoiding secondary contamination by germs through the food ingredients and the hands of the persons cooking foods; (2) avoiding the growth of germs in food products; and (3) killing by heat the germs having adhered to food products.
    Some cooks think that heating food ingredients will kill the bacteria. However, heated food is not completely "sterile". The spore of some bacteria species remain after heating in the normal cooking process. Bacteria in general and occasionally food poisoning bacteria will survive after cooking in case food ingredients were heavily contaminated by microorganisms. Therefore, leaving food at room temperature after cooking should be avoided. It is important to wash the food ingredients and to keep food products refrigerated in order to control the number of germs in the food to minimum.
    What is particularly important to control food poisoning is to avoid the adhesion of pathogenic organisms to food products, since infection can be elicited by a small number of microorganisms in infectious type food poisoning, whose incidence has been increasing in recent years. In order to avoid the adhesion of microorganisms to foods, health management and hand washing should be thoroughly implemented by food products handlers.
Enactment of the Food Safety Basic Law
    The scale of the Japanese food-related industry reportedly approximates 100 trillion yen. Many people and businesses are involved in production, sales, distribution, catering, etc.
    The Government enacted the Food Safety Basic Law in May 2003. The mechanism established for the assurance of food safety has changed considerably. The conventional "after-the-fact response" was changed to "before-the-fact action based on predictions".
    The philosophy of the Food Safety Basic Law is based on the following three principles.
(1) The protection of the health of the public is most important.
(2) Food safety should be monitored and guidance provided not only at the final stage but also at the distribution and marketing stages.
(3) The impact of food products on health should be studied by means of a scientific method, and information should be shared.
"Risk assessment", "risk management" and "risk communication" are considered important for ensuring food safety. "Risk assessment" consists of the scientific evaluation of the probability and extent of an influence on consumer health exerted by harmful substances contained in food products. . "Risk management" means taking measures to control risks while taking into consideration the relationship between cost and benefit as well as the societal impact. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labour controls the risks related to food hygiene under the Food Sanitation Law, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries controls the risks regarding agricultural products, livestock products and marine products under the Pesticide Control Law and the Feed Safety Law. In "risk communication" both the consumers and the business community promote their understanding of food safety through the exchange of opinions and the government will releases information on food safety to the public. The new approach called "risk communication" is designed to bring together the efforts of the government, the business entities and the consumers in order to ensure food safety.
    The laws related to food safety involve several government agencies over various aspects. Some of the laws are targeted to the production stage for agricultural products, livestock products and marine products, and some are focused on food labeling. Also the solidarity between the government agencies has been reinforced through the enactment of the Food Safety Basic Law. Food product providers and consumers should cooperate toward a common objective, namely food safety, by sharing information and not have a confrontational relationship regarding safety.