June 29, 2023: Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) is confident that the vote today by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) to include Cronobacter sakazakii on the nationally notifiable diseases list will have meaningful impact on infant mortality. Thank you to the CSTE for its due diligence and acknowledging this important issue.

We urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to quickly adopt this position to begin funding and initiating surveillance of Cronobacter sakazakii infections in infants. There are costs associated with this addition — but funds are needed to educate public health and medical officials nationwide in order to save lives.

Cronobacter sakazakii contamination is responsible for the massive 2022 powdered infant formula recall and the subsequent product shortages in the U.S. that left families scrambling to find food for their newborns. The contamination led to at least two infant deaths and an unknown number of illnesses in infants less than 3 months of age.

Although Cronobacter sakazakii infections are considered rare, no one is exactly sure as there is little data and research associated with this pathogen. With this position, those numbers will become more readily available.

STOP is developing an education campaign for both consumers and medical professionals focusing on how to safely handle powdered infant formula, as it is not a sterile product. Most consumers do not understand what that means and how it could adversely impact their newborn(s). 

Stop Foodborne Illness is a national public health non-profit organization that advocates for enforceable and science- and risk-based federal food safety policy, works with industry to develop positive food safety culture, and engages individuals and families that have been adversely impacted by severe foodborne disease. Stop Foodborne Illness works on behalf of everyone who eats.