Federal program that tracks foodborne illness is scaling back

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - A federal program that tracks foodborne illnesses is scaling back operations.

The program known as FoodNet has been monitoring poisoning infections across the U.S. for decades, but in an out of the blue decision, it decided to cut back drastically.

“It’s tragic that to save a little bit of money, we’re going to do it at the expense of hardship and tragedy,” said Neal Fortin, Director of the Institute for Food Laws & Regulations at Michigan State University.

The program will now only monitor two pathogens that cause infections, salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. Coli bacteria.

Although, it’s leaving out six other germs, including campylobacter, cyclospora, and listeria.

“There will be still born births because one of the victims of listeriosis is pregnant w