Featured Tools & Resources
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Educational Videos for Retail Food Employees
Video testimonials to enhance food safety training at the retail level by helping food employees understand the important role they play in protecting public health.
Food Code Adoption Map
This interactive map reflects the statutory or regulatory adoption of the FDA Food Code at the state level as of January 2021.
Decoding the Food Code
A free, online training module developed to help stakeholders, including all levels of government and industry, understand the foundational policy principles of the Food Code including its structure, nomenclature, and conventions.
Retail Food Program Standards Self-Assessment – Audit Verification Summary & Gap Analysis Tool
The SAVA tool assists enrolled state, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions in monitoring and tracking their progress with the Retail Program Standards.
Creating a Retail Food Safety Culture Through the use of Active Managerial Control Infographic
This document has been designed to depict the interrelationship between organizational food safety culture, food safety management systems (FSMS), and active managerial control (AMC).
CIFOR Guidelines Implementation Toolkit
The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) Toolkit was developed to help agencies identify which Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response work best for their jurisdictions, including understanding the Guidelines, conducting a self-assessment of their outbreak detection and investigation procedures, and implementing appropriate recommendations.
Analysis of Factors Impacting the Implementation of Effective Intervention Strategies
This study identified and assessed the implementation of risk factor interventions currently employed by local retail food regulatory programs enrolled in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, with a focus on Standard 9.
Foodborne Illness Outbreak Resource Library
This resource library provides retail food regulatory professionals with a collection of vetted resources that support effective foodborne illness outbreak investigations.
Retail Program Standards Networks Issue Brief
This issue brief investigated the benefits of state and local retail food regulatory programs participating in state- and region-wide networks aimed at achieving conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards).
Analysis of Factors Influencing the Implementation of Risk-Based Inspections
This study helps to identify, better understand, and assess the application of RBI methods currently employed by local retail food regulatory programs as well as the overarching barriers preventing the application of RBI methods.
Explore all Tools & Resources
Educational Videos for Retail Food Employees
Video testimonials to enhance food safety training at the retail level by helping food employees understand the important role they play in protecting public health.
Food Code Adoption Map
This interactive map reflects the statutory or regulatory adoption of the FDA Food Code at the state level as of January 2021.
Decoding the Food Code
A free, online training module developed to help stakeholders, including all levels of government and industry, understand the foundational policy principles of the Food Code including its structure, nomenclature, and conventions.
Retail Food Program Standards Self-Assessment – Audit Verification Summary & Gap Analysis Tool
The SAVA tool assists enrolled state, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions in monitoring and tracking their progress with the Retail Program Standards.
Creating a Retail Food Safety Culture Through the use of Active Managerial Control Infographic
This document has been designed to depict the interrelationship between organizational food safety culture, food safety management systems (FSMS), and active managerial control (AMC).
CIFOR Guidelines Implementation Toolkit
The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) Toolkit was developed to help agencies identify which Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response work best for their jurisdictions, including understanding the Guidelines, conducting a self-assessment of their outbreak detection and investigation procedures, and implementing appropriate recommendations.
Analysis of Factors Impacting the Implementation of Effective Intervention Strategies
This study identified and assessed the implementation of risk factor interventions currently employed by local retail food regulatory programs enrolled in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, with a focus on Standard 9.
Foodborne Illness Outbreak Resource Library
This resource library provides retail food regulatory professionals with a collection of vetted resources that support effective foodborne illness outbreak investigations.
Retail Program Standards Networks Issue Brief
This issue brief investigated the benefits of state and local retail food regulatory programs participating in state- and region-wide networks aimed at achieving conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards).
Analysis of Factors Influencing the Implementation of Risk-Based Inspections
This study helps to identify, better understand, and assess the application of RBI methods currently employed by local retail food regulatory programs as well as the overarching barriers preventing the application of RBI methods.
Active Managerial Control Incentive Programs: Examples from Jurisdictions Leading the Way
This page contains resources developed by health departments for their Active Managerial Control incentive programs for use by others interested in developing programs in their jurisdictions.
Active Managerial Control Incentive Programs Assessment Report
This report outlines the results of the nationwide Active Managerial Control Incentive Programs to Improve Food Safety survey, provides insight into key materials and resources used for AMC, and features details of several successful AMC Incentive Programs offered to retail food establishments by environmental health agencies.
Retail Food Risk Factor Study
The 2015-2016 Occurrence Report includes findings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 10-year study data gathering as well as additional resources such as a factsheet and calls to action for regulators and industry.
Report: Adoption of the FDA Food Code by State and Territorial Agencies
This report identifies the adoption of the FDA Food Code at the state and territorial level as of December 31, 2021.
FDA Office of Training Education and Development
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Regulatory Affairs’ Office of Training Education and Development (OTED) provides free training to state, local and tribal regulatory partners in both online and in-classroom formats.
Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response
The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response describe model practices for foodborne disease outbreaks, including preparation, detection, investigation, control, and follow-up as well as the roles of key organizations in foodborne disease outbreaks.
Foodborne Illness Videos
A collection of videos that help shed a light on the individual impact of foodborne illness and the lives affected.
Educational Posters for Retail Food Employees
Storyboards, cause and effect posters, and video testimonials to enhance food safety training at the retail level by helping food employees understand the important role they play in protecting public health.
New Era of Smarter Food Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) New Era of Smarter Food Safety is a new approach to food safety, leveraging technology and other tools to create a safer and more digital, traceable food system.
Integrated Food Safety System Toolkit
The IFSS Toolkit aims to help public health, environmental health, and food regulatory agencies and laboratories better understand current integration efforts in their jurisdiction, identify specific IFSS practices and activities that will improve the integration performance of all stakeholders, and make plans to implement those activities.
Managing Food Safety: A Manual for the Voluntary Use of HACCP Principles for Operators of Food Service and Retail Establishments
A comprehensive manual designed to assist foodservice operators and retail establishments with writing and voluntarily implementing a food safety management system based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.
Report on the Occurrence of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors in Fast Food and Full-service Restaurants, 2013-2014
A study prepared by the FDA National Retail Food Team and published in November 2018.
Implementing Active Managerial Control Principles in a Retail Food Business
A thorough, research-based article written to help retail food service establishments facilitate a focus on controlling risk factors linked to foodborne illness outbreaks.
Active Managerial Control Sharing Session
This webinar highlights the Fairfax County Health Department’s Active Managerial Control program and how it provides industry education, offers AMC tools and resources, and administers AMC recognition and voluntary enrollment programs to promote and encourage AMC within food service operations.
A Guide for Conducting a Food Safety Root Cause Analysis
The Pew Research Center published “A Guide for Conducting a Food Safety Root Cause Analysis” to improve food safety by encouraging the use of RCA in food operations and by safety regulators, and the sharing of information and lessons learned from these investigations.
FDA Food Code
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Code is a model that encompasses guidelines and provisions to best ensure that food offered at retail food establishments and in food service is safe, unadulterated, and honestly presented.
Voluntary National Retail Program Standards
The Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards lay a foundation and develop a system for continuous improvement that is compatible with both traditional and emerging approaches to food safety. These standards reinforce good retail practices in an effort to reduce the occurrence of risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness.
Jurisdictions Enrolled in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards
A list of jurisdictions that have enrolled in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards).
Environmental Assessment Just-In-Time Training
A free, online, modular Environmental Assessment Just-In-Time training to help environmental health professionals refresh their skills in conducting environmental assessments.
Voluntary National Retail Program Standards Mentorship Program
Food regulatory programs enrolled in the Voluntary National Retail Program Standards can participate in the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Mentorship Program which provides access to peer-to-peer assistance and advice with implementing policies and procedures, completing self-assessments, and conducting verification audits.
Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS)
The Environmental Assessment Training Series is a free, online training that will teach participants to identify an outbreak’s environmental causes, recommend appropriate control measures, and practice conducting virtual environmental assessments.
Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence
The Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellent act as peer resource centers, assisting state and local health departments one-on-one basis, by providing training that supports state and local health departments’ capacity to track and investigate enteric diseases.