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. 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.
More tools and resources will be added to this page as our work continues.

Further Resources
Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) (Webpage)
A collaboration of national associations and federal agencies working together to improve methods to detect, investigate, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks.
- CIFOR Guidelines (Webpage): A comprehensive source of information on foodborne disease investigation and control for local, state, territories, tribes, and federal health agencies.
- CIFOR Toolkit (Webpage): Developed to help implement CIFOR Guidelines, contains worksheets and keys to success designed to help agencies identify which recommendations work best for their jurisdictions.
Rapid Response Team (RRT) Best Practices Manual (PDF)
Manual for improving communication, traceback and trace forward, laboratory analysis, joint investigations, and inspections.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Colorado Department of Public Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence, Minnesota Department of Health, Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration for their contributions to this resource library.
We are always looking for additional tools and resources to help environmental health professionals prepare for and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks. If you have a resource you wish to share, please email us at Contact@RetailFoodSafetyCollaborative.org.

Last updated: May 5, 2023
