This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new research identifying gaps in the education of restaurant workers and in public health surveillance. In particular, researchers found that food preparation and handling practices, worker health policies, and hand-washing practices are among the underlying environmental factors that often are not reported during foodborne outbreaks. The agency believes that increasing the awareness and implementation of correct food safety practices in restaurants and delis could help prevent many foodborne illness outbreaks. “Inspectors have not had a formal system to capture and report the underlying factors that likely contribute to foodborne outbreaks or a way to inform prevention strategies and implement routine corrective measures in restaurants, delis and schools to prevent future outbreaks,” said Carol Selman, head of CDC’s Environmental Health Specialists Network team at the National Center for Environmental Health. Since 2000, CDC has worked with state and local health departments to develop new surveillance and training tools to advance the use of environmental health assessments as a part of foodborne outbreak investigations. One tool is a free, interactive e-Learning course to help state and local health departments identify environmental causes of outbreaks and recommend appropriate controls. Another is the National Voluntary Environmental Assessment Information System (NVEAIS), which gives food venue inspectors a way to track underlying environmental assessment data that describe what events most likely lead to a foodborne outbreak. These data subsequently help CDC and other public health professionals to better understand the primary and underlying causes of an outbreak. The agency plans to debut its new data surveillance system and e-Learning course in early 2014.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
The root cause of a large E. coli outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2024 remains unknown with authorities warning a re-emergence is possible.
Almost 300 people fell ill with
Authorities in Lithuania are investigating two cases of foodborne botulism linked to fish sold at a market.
The State Food and Veterinary Service (VMVT) conducted an inspection at a market
A second U.S. resident has died from the bird flu.
The Washington Department of Health reported that the Grays Harbor County resident was an older person who had a
Co-op brand creamy garlic and spinach salad is being recalled in Canada because of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the salad was distributed in
Health officials in England and Wales have warned people about the risk of catching harmful infections from animals.
Public Health Wales said it was important that people do not pick
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
A unit of the Food Standard Agency (FSA) has helped seize bushmeat in England.
The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) operation resulted in one arrest. A 51-year-old man has been
