At a glance
Learn about gaps we found in retail food safety practices from investigations of 2014-2016 outbreaks reported to our National Environmental Assessment Reporting System.
Key takeaways
Our review of more than 400 outbreaks revealed gaps in retail food safety practices and in how outbreaks are investigated.
- Gaps in retail food safety practices: Contamination of food by sick food workers contributed to more than half of outbreaks with contributing factor data. However, most establishments with outbreaks lacked written policies for practices to keep food from being contaminated by workers.
- Gaps in how outbreaks are investigated: Investigations that start within 24-48 hours are more likely to uncover important information about outbreak causes. However, about 1 in 10 investigations began more than 2 days after an outbreak was identified.
Protecting food from contamination by sick workers can help reduce outbreaks. Improving investigation practices can help investigators identify what is making people sick and how to stop the outbreak.
Why this is important
Most foodborne outbreaks occur in retail food establishments like restaurants. We need to know more about how retail establishment characteristics and food safety policies and practices relate to foodborne outbreaks. This information will help food safety programs develop effective approaches to prevent outbreaks.
What we learned
We studied 404 of these kinds of outbreaks reported to CDC's National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS) in 2014–2016. Our data showed:
- Contamination of food by sick food workers contributed to more than half of outbreaks with contributing factor data.
- Most establishments with outbreaks lacked written policies for practices to keep food from being contaminated by workers.
- About a third did not have written policies on glove use.
- About half did not have written policies about food workers working while sick.
- Investigations that start within 24-48 hours are more likely to uncover important information about outbreak causes. However, about 1 in 10 investigations began more than 2 days after an outbreak was identified.
More information
- Journal article this plain language summary is based on
- Study data for 2014-2016 outbreaks and outbreak establishments
- What restaurant managers need to know about talking with sick workers
- More key findings from investigation data and on restaurant practices
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