15.01.2016

FoodNet Canada tracks illnesses of the gut, commonly known as food poisoning, in Canadians, and traces them back to their sources, such as food, water and animals. These data are analyzed to help determine which sources are causing the most illness among Canadians and help us track illnesses and their causes over time.
In the 2014 surveillance year, FoodNet Canada was active in three sites in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
In 2014, Campylobacter and Salmonella remained the most common causes of human enteric illness in the sentinel sites. Campylobacter was the most prevalent pathogen found on skinless chicken breast in all sites with close to one-half of all samples testing positive. Across all three sites, Salmonella is the most commonly found pathogen in chicken nuggets, with more than one-quarter of all samples testing positive. Salmonella prevalence on skinless chicken breast ranged across the sites from 15% - 26%.
Salmonella was commonly found in broiler chickens in all sites. Salmonella was also found in turkey in the BC site, but at a lower prevalence than in the broiler chickens. In turkey in the BC site, Campylobacter was again the most common pathogen found in 2014, as in 2013. Campylobacter prevalence in broiler chickens was variable across the sites, ranging from 8.7% - 22%.