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 occur, but they are not frequent and, for the most part, they 

 are not severe. 



In arriving at its conclusion, the NAS took into account a 

 number of factors, including the foodborne illness data 

 reported by State and local health authorities to our sister 

 agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . 

 In the CDC system, seafood accounted for only 4.8 percent of 

 reported cases of foodborne illness over the 15 year period 

 1973-1987. It should be recognized, however, that, as CDC has 

 pointed out, comparisons of safety among different foods based 

 solely on CDC outbreak data are not possible due to variations 

 in the rates of reporting among different foods and other 

 factors. Consequently, this percentage is not definitive with 

 regard to relative safety and must be considered in terms of 

 its consistency with other data. 



While these data have limitations, they can be used to identify 

 trends and emerging concerns about various diseases. In 

 reviewing the CDC data, the NAS noted that the 23 percent 

 increase in seafood consumption in the U.S. in the 10 year 

 period ending in 1989 was not accompanied by a concomitant 

 increase in reported seafood-borne illnesses. The NAS also 

 noted that, despite the wide range of hazards that could cause 

 illness, the data suggest that most seafood-related illnesses 

 result from molluscan shellfish consumed raw or partially 



