A recent article highlights an emerging use of wastewater monitoring and microbial detection to assess the true impact of foodborne illnesses in our communities. Wastewater monitoring has long been a component of public health monitoring; however, this type of community monitoring increased in use during the COVID-19 pandemic as a means for public health officials to help curtail rising cases of illness in the community. With early identification, swift action was taken to identify outbreak clusters, implement controls (e.g., masks, isolation) to curtail spread and ultimately offer a means for health officials to minimize risk and disruptions to society. 

In food safety, early identification and more accurate monitoring offer the potential to improve outbreak investigations, understand supply chain weaknesses and speed up threat removals within commerce. The technology and equipment invested in during the pandemic, including improved laboratories and microbial sequencing technologies, are now available for new use cases and applications. Foodborne illness and pathogen sequencing would be a natural progression in how food safety and illness management may evolve over time, and these new resources and infrastructure may unlock and accelerate solutions in our efforts to reduce the burden of illness from foodborne pathogens. 

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