Broadband plays a large role in many aspects of our public safety.   However, we most often discuss the role of broadband in public safety in terms of improving first response systems and national security.  But with the latest threat to the public being food safety, Daniel Castro of technology think tank ITIF takes a closer look at how better use of broadband technology could minimize damages in “the next Salmonella Egg-idemic.”

Castro points out that today’s big farms (egg and otherwise) are widely embracing technology already, from monitoring soil moisture to RFID tags to track livestock.  But with a larger trend of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States in recent years, Castro suggests several ways technology could be used to help with detection and prevention, even beyond the CDC’s Pulsenet, an information system used to detect foodborne illness case clusters.

In the future, better information could allow public health officials to identify and trace outbreaks more quickly. For example, if a nationwide system of interoperable electronic health records were made available in real-time for public research, this could allow epidemiologists to track outbreaks from unreported or undiagnosed illnesses by looking at data on reported symptoms. The FDA is also developing new technologies to rapidly capture, analyze and share data on foodborne pathogens through a web-based, interactive system.

Castro goes on to cite several government and private sector food safety projects in development that will take full advantage of today’s broadband technology.   He concludes by encouraging a policy framework that will best enable these potentially life-saving innovations to flourish, reminding policymakers “IT has an important role to play in monitoring, detecting and responding to public health threats and protecting the safety of our food supply.”

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