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Part 1: Breaking the Barriers to Implementing Risk-Based Inspections in Retail Food Safety

On Thursday, May 26 from 2 PM – 3 PM ET, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Conference for Food Protection (CFP), will host an online sharing session on factors influencing the implementation of risk-based inspections. This sharing session will focus on the results of a study conducted in 2021 by NACCHO and CFP to identify, better understand, and assess the application of risk-based inspection methods currently employed by local retail food regulatory programs while seeking to identify the overarching barriers preventing application of risk-based inspection methods. Nine jurisdictions were interviewed, and the participants identified 15 barriers to the implementation of risk-based inspection methods. This sharing session will discuss five strategies to overcome these barriers.

Part 2: A Retrospective Look at How Local Retail Food Regulatory Programs Used Risk Factor Intervention Strategies

On Thursday, June 2 from 2 PM – 3 PM ET, NACCHO and CFP will present a webinar on the use of risk factor intervention strategies within local retail food regulatory programs. Presenters from NACCHO and CFP will discuss the findings of their study conducted in 2021, which aimed to assess jurisdictions’ use of risk factor interventions, including how they were created, implemented, and evaluated for effectiveness. Attendees will also hear about the successes, challenges, and lessons learned by the regulatory programs interviewed for this study.

Participants will have the opportunity to share their own experiences and ask questions during each Q&A session. For any questions, please email [email protected].

Speakers

Nicholas Adams, MPH, is a Senior Program Analyst at the National Association of County and City Health Officials in the Environmental Health Department, providing leadership in NACCHO’s food safety portfolio and managing all the funded projects within it. Prior to his role at NACCHO, he managed the Maryland Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program as a research faculty member at the University of Maryland–College Park. His research background covers environmental health program evaluation, environmental epidemiology, climate and health, and sustainability education.

Kala Wekenborg-Tomka, MHA, has been the Research Project Leader for the Conference for Food Protection since November 2020, conducting research project activities and contributing to the strategic direction of assigned projects. She is also the Environmental Public Health Supervisor at the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services in the field of environmental health and food safety, and has conducted numerous inspections of retail food establishments, leads the division in work on the FDA Retail Food Program Standards, serves as chair of the food advisory committee for the state of Missouri and has served as the President of the Environmental Health Association in 2011 and 2015.