A s if we hadn’t already noticed from all the recalls associated with lettuce, peanut butter and other foods, the CDC confirms foodborne illnesses are making a come back.

But other foodborne illnesses appear to have leveled off, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

Data from 10 states show infections caused by Campylobacter, Listeria, Shigella, and Yersinia have all fallen since the 1990s.

But after falling sharply in 2003 and 2004 when the meat industry pulled together to make ground beef safer, rates of E. coli 0157:H7 infections have rebounded, and many appear to be related to outbreaks in fresh produce, the CDC said.

“As recent outbreaks have shown, too many people in the United States are getting sick each year from foodborne illnesses,” CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said. “For instance, the outbreaks involving tomatoes, lettuce and spinach underscore the need to more effectively prevent contamination of produce.”

“We’re also working to strengthen our ability to quickly detect and identify foodborne illnesses. We know the faster we can detect an outbreak, the faster we can take actions that will help protect people.”

The CDC identified 17,252 laboratory-confirmed cases of food poisoning in 2006 using its FoodNet surveillance tool, which looks in detail at foodborne illness in 10 states, covering 45 million people or 15 percent of the total U.S. population.

From Reuters News

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