Foodborne Illness Outbreak Resource Library Published

A new resource library provides retail food regulatory professionals with a collection of vetted resources that support effective foodborne illness outbreak investigations. These resources include trainings, handouts/printouts, and guidance documents. The provided materials cover aspects of foodborne illness outbreaks from interviewing to collecting samples, pathogen-specific guidance, communication with the media, and after action reports.

The development of this collection was informed by the results of an assessment conducted in 2021 by the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) in conjunction with the Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaborative partners. The assessment collected information regarding outbreak response resources used by state, local, tribal, and territorial retail food safety regulatory programs throughout the U.S. After analyzing the results of the survey, NEHA conducted an environmental scan on existing tools and resources, beginning with the products of the Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence, to identify and collect resources that met the needs identified.