Set the Table: Improving Restaurant Food Safety Through Science and Practice
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The content and conclusions in this presentation are those of the authors and presenters and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hear from Dr. Laura Brown and Lieutenant Commander Beth Wittry from CDC and Thuy Kim from the University of Minnesota. They shared information on key CDC training and surveillance resources for outbreaks, along with exciting new research findings on restaurant food safety.
Background
- There are 800 foodborne illness outbreaks a year in the United States, and most occur in restaurants.
- State and local health departments inspect restaurants and conduct outbreak investigations.
CDC conducts research, surveillance, and training to inform and improve restaurant food safety, as well as the program policies and practices health departments can use. The ultimate goal is to reduce foodborne illness and outbreaks. This CDC webinar covers updates in three key areas:
- Research – Restaurant inspection practices, including grading and posting
- Surveillance – Clostridium perfringens findings and recommendations from CDC’s National Environmental Assessment Reports System (NEARS)
- Training – CDC’s interactive Environmental Assessment Training Series
This webinar broadcasted via Zoom on Tuesday, September 13, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET.
Presenters
Laura Brown, Ph.D.
Dr. Laura Brown works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and leads the National Center for Environmental Health’s Safe Food Section. This team conducts research and surveillance on retail food safety and foodborne outbreaks
Beth Wittry, M.P.H., REHS, CP-FS
LCDR Beth Wittry is an Environmental Health Officer with the CDC National Center for Environmental Health’s Safe Food Section. She oversees food safety research projects to understand environmental factors associated with foodborne illnesses and outbreaks.
Thuy Kim, M.P.H.
Thuy Kim is a PhD candidate in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Her research focuses on improving foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak investigation using environmental health data.
- Join our Environmental Health Services newsletter for timely news on food safety and other environmental health topics with no email overload (enter your email address, then select “Environmental Health Services” from the list)
- Visit our food safety resources webpage for environmental health professionals
- Learn more about our interactive training on outbreak investigations Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS) and our reporting system for capturing these outbreak data, the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System
- Read our plain language summary of papers discussed in the webinar on how restaurant inspection practices are linked with foodborne outbreaks.
- Read the papers discussed in the webinar:
- Root Causes of Clostridium perfringens Outbreaks: Findings from CDC’s National Environmental Assessment Reporting System
- Disclosing Inspection Results at Point-of-Service: Affect of Characteristics of Food Establishment Inspection Programs on Foodborne Illness Outcomes
- Foodborne Outbreak Rates Associated with Restaurant Inspection Grading and Posting at the Point of Service: Evaluation Using National Foodborne Outbreak Surveillance Data
- Explore more food safety research findings—including plain language summaries—from our practice-based research and NEARS programs
