About Environmental Health Services

CDC’s Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch provides practice-based research, training, tools and guidance for environmental health practitioners on

• Food Safety – Preventing foodborne illnesses and outbreaks.
• Safe Water – Keeping water safe, particularly recreational water and private wells.
• Performance Improvement – Improving the performance of environmental health programs.

About Environmental Health Professionals

Did you take a shower, drink a glass of water, eat at a restaurant, or go for a swim today? We can engage in these everyday activities without worrying about getting sick because environmental health professionals work behind the scenes to keep them safe. For example, permitting and inspection programs for drinking water and wastewater systems help prevent outbreaks in restaurants, school cafeterias, swimming pools, and other facilities.

Environmental health practitioners also investigate outbreaks to identify their environmental causes. They often perform critical functions during emergency responses. Examples include assessing shelters and food establishments, testing drinking water supplies, and controlling disease-carrying organisms (vectors).

About Our Branch

The Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch is part of the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice. The division is part of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.

The branch also houses CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program. VSP helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships.

More Information

Program Activities
Environmental Health Workforce Development: Protecting Public Health and the Environment