The Impact of Climate Change on Foodborne Illnesses: A Growing Public Health Threat
Once considered a slow-moving threat to Earth’s future, climate change has insinuated itself as an immediate and pervasive reality, including its impact on our health. Changes in foodborne illnesses is just one of the ways in which climate change is transforming our lives. Rising global temperatures and shifting weather patterns are causing foodborne pathogens to become more common and spreading in new directions. These shifts have changed the rules of the game when it comes to protecting public health from foodborne illness. Let’s take a closer look at how climate change is transforming foodborne illnesses and what it means for our health.
Rising temperatures may be the most obvious way that climate change is impacting foodborne pathogens – higher temperatures can catalyze the growth of bacteria and other pathogens. Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, among other pathogens, may grow more quickly with rising temperatures. Their increased growth rates may give way to higher levels of contamination in foodstuffs – and, subsequently, an increased risk of foodborne outbreaks.
Climate change also influences foodborne pathogens via shifts in precipitation patterns. Torrential and heavy rain can cause flash flooding. This results in the increased risk of waterborne illnesses as flood water can pick up harmful microbes, such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites, from animal feces and sewage. Microbes mix with floodwater and are then distributed throughout flooded fields and contaminate drinking water supplies. Even after the floodwaters recede, the contaminants can linger in the soil and permeate the food and drinking water supply.
Flooding is not the only way that extreme weather can disrupt food safety. Blackouts brought about by storms or hurricanes can lead to failure of refrigeration units leading to the spoilage of perishable foods. Heatwaves can also damage food systems, leading to contamination of food production, storage and transport. These disruptions can compromise food safety systems, making it more difficult to manage and prevent foodborne illnesses.
Climate change also affects the distribution and behavior of foodborne pathogens. Warmer climates and shifted precipitation patterns can expand the habitats of certain pathogens and vectors. For example, warm climates can expand the geographical regions where ticks and mosquitoes live, because these arthropods can transmit infections such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus. Thus, the introduction of new pathogens in regions where they were previously uncommon is a risk caused by shifting climates.
Climate change intensifies the burden of foodborne disease because changing climate conditions call for more effective food safety practices and public health safeguards. Monitoring and adapting to climate conditions will be required to prevent foodborne outbreaks, as new surveillance systems, early warning mechanisms and climate-resilient food safety infrastructure will be needed to combat emerging risks. Climate must be factored into food safety planning and policy to better protect public health.
In summary, climate change is significantly impacting foodborne illnesses by accelerating pathogen growth, altering pathogen spread, and disrupting food safety systems. Eventually, warmer and more erratic weather will affect our food production and processing. We should expect foodborne disease to change along with it. If we don’t take these changes seriously, we will be less safe and less healthy. Food safety and public health responses to climate change will need to be stronger than ever to keep our food supply safe.
