The guidelines for the 2025 Samuel J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award for Excellence in Food Protection at the Local Level is now available to download. This award is given annually to local environmental health jurisdictions that demonstrate unsurpassed achievement in providing outstanding food protection services to their communities.
Named for one of America’s most renowned health officers and health educators, Samuel J. Crumbine, MD (1862–1954), the award encourages innovative programs and methods that reduce or eliminate the occurrence of foodborne illnesses, recognizes the importance of food protection at the local level, and stimulates public interest in foodservice sanitation.
Last year, the Richmond County Health Department in North Carolina earned this recognition for the following food safety achievements:
- Meeting all nine of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards) in 2023, making Richmond County the first county in North Carolina to do so and ensuring a highly effective program for the regulation of retail food and foodservice establishments.
- Collaborating with other jurisdictions as well as the North Carolina Retail Program Standards Network — defined as three or more jurisdictions that regularly convene to work together to increase understanding of, and conformance with, the Retail Program Standards — to create policies and procedures for Retail Program Standards 3, 4, 6, and 8. The creation of these policies and procedures addressing handwashing, a known foodborne illness risk factor, led to a 56% decrease in foodservice worker violations over the course of four years.
- Offering multilingual, in-class and virtual, ServSafe training to foodservice establishments in Richmond County, as well as conducting Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) training tailored to school environments, enhancing identification, evaluation, and control of food safety hazards in schools.
Learn more about past recipients of the award.
Eligibility
Local government organizations with the responsibility for food protection in the United States and Canada are eligible to apply for the award. These are understood to be departments or agencies that have the legal responsibility to protect the health of consumers in a county, district, city, town, township, or like jurisdiction. In addition, the U.S. Uniformed Services and U.S. Indian Health Service area programs may to apply, if they conduct a local food program, and past award winners may apply five years after their previous award. State, provincial, institutional, industry, and private programs are not eligible.
How to Apply
All local environmental health jurisdictions meeting these basic criteria are encouraged to apply, regardless of size and resources. To apply, applicants should download the guidelines, which may be found here.
The deadline to submit entries for the award is March 14, 2025.
Award sponsored by the Conference for Food Protection, in cooperation with the American Academy of Sanitarians, American Public Health Association, Association of Food and Drug Officials, Food Marketing Institute, Foodservice Packaging Institute, International Association for Food Protection, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Environmental Health Association and NSF International.
