Food Safety Program
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Foodborne illness in the United States is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cause 48 million cases of illnesses, over 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths annually. Hospitalizations due to foodborne illnesses are estimated to cost over three billion dollars and lost productivity is estimated to cost between $20 billion and $40 billion each year. NACCHO strives to support and work with local health departments to improve food safety and prevent foodborne illness. 
The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak and Response (CIFOR) is holding a webinar on May 21 from 1:00-2:15 PM EDT developed to provide training and education on foodborne disease outbreak response to those at the state and local levels. The webinar is for any public health official and will review outbreak investigation methods and show participants how to use the CIFOR Toolkit. Participants will also learn about to states' experiences implementing the Toolkit in order to improve their response to multijurisdictional outbreaks. Learn more about the webinar. 
Local health departments (LHDs) with food safety programs are encouraged to enroll in the FDA's Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards). The Retail Program Standards provide a management system that LHDs can apply to enhance the services they provide to the public. To find out more about enrolling the Retail Program Standards, contact Becky Johnson and Linda Collins.
NACCHO invited LHDs to submit applications to participate in a mentorship program with other peer LHDs to share experiences, learn, and provide tools and resources related to the Retail Program Standards. Learn about the mentorship program. More » 
The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) released its Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response. Local and state agencies vary in the approach to, experience with, and capacity to respond to foodborne disease outbreaks. The CIFOR guidelines have been developed to provide a foundational resource for anyone working in food safety programs. The guidelines are targeted to local, state, and federal agencies and describe the overall approach to foodborne disease outbreaks.
CIFOR is a multidisciplinary working group convened to increase collaboration across the country in order to reduce the burden of foodborne illness in the U.S. NACCHO and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists co-chair CIFOR with support from the CDC. Click here for the CIFOR website. More » |
