Food poisoning: notifications, laboratory reports, and outbreaks--where do the statistics come from and what do they mean?

Three main routine sources of data on food poisoning are used in England and Wales. The first is the statutory notification system, in which clinicians notify the 'proper officer' of their local authorities of cases or suspected cases of food poisoning, and the data are collated by the Office for National Statistics. Second and third are the reporting schemes for laboratory confirmed infections and general outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease, both of which are coordinated by the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. This review discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the three sources.