"Most foodborne outbreaks occur in retail food establishments like restaurants, and environmental assessments are an important part of outbreak investigations. Environmental assessments can determine how and why germs got into the environment and spread to make people sick, and they provide information that can stop ongoing outbreaks and prevent them in the future. It seems like environmental assessments would be standard practice in an outbreak investigation, but health department investigators do not always conduct environmental assessments of outbreaks.
The NCEH Safe Food Section looked at 403 foodborne outbreaks reported to NEARS from 2014-2016 to determine why investigators did or did not do an environmental assessment of restaurant outbreaks. They discovered that investigators needed appropriate resources and managerial support to conduct these assessments; in particular, having departmental policies and the necessary staff and time to do assessments. Additionally, assessments were hindered by a lack of training, poor communication that delayed response time, and uncooperative restaurant staff.
Health department management can support improved food safety practices by
- Encouraging outbreak investigations to include environmental assessments.
- Providing the resources necessary to complete these assessments, including hiring more staff, conducting training, and instituting policies that require environmental assessments..."
Food Safety&Environmental Assessments
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