Investigation Summaries in Plain Language

For Public Health

At a glance

We study data from the environmental component of foodborne illness outbreak investigations in restaurants. Explore our plain language summaries of key findings.
Food workers in a kitchen.

Key findings

Restaurant practices can contribute to outbreaks. We found these top factors contributed to outbreaks in restaurants and other retail food establishments: contaminated ingredients, sick food workers handling food, and food left out of safe temperature control.

Restaurant managers are key to preventing outbreaks in restaurants. We found most outbreaks happen because restaurants do not build a strong food safety culture, train their employees properly, and monitor their work.

Summaries

Wide shot of a restaurant with several people at different tables.
Restaurant Investigations, 2014–2016
Learn about outbreaks and gaps we found in retail food safety practices and outbreak investigations.
graphic of a hambone with a thermometer in it
Outbreak Data on Contributing Factors
Find out when contributing factors were more likely to be identified for nearly 300 outbreaks.
graphic of epidemiologists, a laboratorian, and a public health investigator.
Traits of Successful Investigations
Learn about what helps make foodborne outbreak investigations successful more often.
Food safety inspector talks to a chef.
Issues Affecting Use of Environmental Assessments
Learn why health department investigators do and do not do environmental assessments of outbreaks.
Investigator in the foreground writing on a clipboard with chefs in the background.
Common Issues When Investigating Outbreaks
Learn how environmental health specialists investigate outbreaks.
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Content Source:
National Center for Environmental Health