Determinants of weekly raw milk use by at-home meal preparers in the USA: evidence from the 2014-2016 American Time Use Survey - Eating and Health Module.

OBJECTIVE: The number of states in the USA that allows sales of raw milk for human consumption has been trending upwards and reached thirty-eight in 2016. These legislative changes could encourage raw milk consumption. The current study examined the determinants of weekly raw milk use by at-home meal preparers in the USA. DESIGN: Using the 2014-2016 American Time Use Survey - Eating and Health Module, multivariate logit regressions and average marginal associations were estimated to examine how at-home meal preparer characteristics, time use and shopping choices, underlying health and the presence of at-risk individuals in households and raw milk legalisation status are associated with the probability an at-home meal preparer consumed or served raw milk during an average week. SETTING: USA. PARTICIPANTS: At-home meal preparers aged 18 years and above. RESULTS: Estimated average marginal associations suggested younger at-home meal preparers, male at-home meal preparers, larger sized households and households located in non-metropolitan areas were more likely to use raw milk during an average week. Married households and households with a person aged 62 years or above were less likely to use raw milk. Variables indicating health characteristics of at-home meal preparers or the presence of an at-risk individual in the household were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: There are many government-sponsored information resources about the risks of raw milk currently available. Additional education may be needed to prevent illnesses from raw milk.

Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 and Romaine Lettuce: Source Labeling, Prevention, and Business.

From May to November most romaine lettuce shipments in the United States come from California's Central Coast region, whereas from December to April most come from the Yuma, Arizona, region. During 2017-2018, the 3 outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 in US romaine lettuce all occurred at the tail end of a region's production season. During the fall 2018 outbreak, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that suppliers begin labeling romaine packaging so that consumers can identify the product's harvest region.We used publicly available data to show that labels may not avert many illnesses in future outbreaks but may reduce suppliers' financial losses and reduce food loss.Market data available during both 2018 outbreak investigations showed that there was no romaine production from one of the 2 regions when the first illness onset occurred. That is, at the beginning of an outbreak investigation, market data may allow the FDA to quickly rule out an entire production region as a source of contamination.