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Up to 90% of the funding for state and local infectious disease programs comes from CDC grants, so the cuts are affecting nearly every health department that ZHH works with during outbreaks. Most have had to cut staff and pare back some programs.
They all still have epidemiologists, who we often work with on potential foodborne illness outbreaks. These folks are fantastic food safety detectives that are our closest partners on most outbreaks. But many health departments have fewer on staff now, which can translate to slower response time.
Previously, we’d often hear about an outbreak of a major foodborne illness like E. coli, Salmonella, or Hep A directly from the state or county health department after a few community members tested positive. We were usually able to work with them to identify a source and quickly stop any further transmission. But now, we’ve had several situations where we’re hearing about these cases later, once there’s not much that can be done – the food that may have been contaminated is long gone, or the sick employee is no longer infectious.
The good news is that despite widespread layoffs, we do still have strong partners at CDC and FDA who can support when there’s an outbreak. Other departments aren’t so lucky, like when Milwaukee asked for analysis help when local high schools tested high for lead, but at the time the Childhood Lead Poisoning Program had all been put on administrative leave.
In short, there are still thousands of dedicated public health officials working at the county, state, and federal level to help prevent and respond to outbreaks, but they’re all working with more limitations and uncertainty than they were before. We’ve said it before and we’ll continue to beat this drum – this is the time for employers to step up and take a more active role in food safety and employee health.
Corn syrup may be going the way of seed oils as the next target in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. This week, President Trump said that Coca-Cola had agreed to start using cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup as sweetener saying “You’ll see. It’s just better!”
Taste-wise? Maybe so (to each his own!). Health-wise? Not so much. Cane sugar and corn syrup are extremely similar in terms of nutritional value. Neither is a truly healthy option.
Like most health trends, this one is rooted in a kernel of truth: both sweeteners are made up of about half glucose and half fructose, but cane sugar has about 5% less fructose. Over time, too much fructose can increase the risk for type 2 diabetes. When we look at just how much soda Americans drink, even a small decrease in fructose across the whole population might actually have an impact, if small.
But this is like calling a cigarette ‘healthier’ because it has 5% fewer carcinogens — technically true, but maybe missing the point. Swapping high-fructose corn syrup for cane sugar makes the soda sound better without making it any less sugary or lower calorie.
Long story short, this is a health topic that doesn’t actually address the underlying issue. It’s missing the forest for the trees — focusing on marginal changes like switching from corn syrup to cane sugar while ignoring the much bigger issue: that Americans consume way too much added sugar that drives chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Still, these types of switches can really matter to consumers. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the public reaction if Coke and other major brands make the swap.
CIDRAP from the University of Minnesota continues to be one of our best sources of news on infectious disease and community health. We were inspired by this article to share our own experience in our first best question today: