(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Whole  genome sequencing is a cutting-edge technology that FDA has put to a novel and health-promoting use: supporting investigations of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The technology works by looking at the DNA fingerprint left behind by disease-causing bacteria, allowing FDA to identify the source of a foodborne outbreak with more detail and clarity than ever before.

The extraordinary benefit of this new technology, first adapted to outbreak investigations in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was recently demonstrated when it was used to help confirm the source of a strain of Listeria responsible for a multi-state outbreak linked to Hispanic-style cheese products. On March 11, 2014,  FDA suspended the registration of  the facility that manufactured the cheese products after some of its cheese products tested positive for a strain of Listeria indistinguishable from the one involved in the outbreak investigation.

Read the Consumer Update to learn more about their research and its implications on the safety of the food you eat.

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