Environmental Assessments

For Public Health

Key points

Food safety programs can use environmental assessments to respond to outbreaks of foodborne illness and make recommendations to prevent them in the future.

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Importance

An environmental assessment of an outbreak determines how and why germs got into the environment and spread to make people sick. In an outbreak, contributing factors are the "how" and root causes are the "why."

Graphic of a hamburger with a thermometer in the meat.
Contributing Factors
Identify contributing factors in foodborne illness outbreaks to help stop and prevent them.
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Root Causes of Outbreaks
Use our resources to identify root causes of foodborne illness outbreaks.

Environmental health's role in these assessments

Learn how environmental health services answer how and why a disease outbreak occurs, recommend actions to stop outbreaks and prevent future ones, and shield hosts from harmful agents through environmental controls.
Watch the video

Skills for successful investigations

The skills needed to investigate outbreaks of foodborne illness in restaurants are different from those needed to inspect restaurants. Learn what makes outbreak investigations successful and take our training to bolster your skills.

Design element for EATS with "Environmental Assessment Training System" around a circle with stars.
Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS)
Learn the role of environmental assessments in outbreak investigations and the food safety system.
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.

More resources

Environmental Assessment Definitions
Review key terms used in environmental assessments of foodborne outbreak investigations.
National Environmental Assessment Reporting System
Use NEARS to capture environmental assessment data from foodborne illness outbreak investigations
Improving Outbreak Investigations
Use our environmental assessment resources to improve your outbreak investigations.
Key Findings from Investigation Data
Explore key findings about the environmental component of foodborne illness outbreak investigations.
Improving Restaurant Food Safety Practices
Explore our research on restaurant practices to reduce foodborne illness in restaurants.
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Content Source
National Center for Environmental Health
About This Page
Published: May 15, 2024
Updated: April 21, 2024

This page was last updated on this date. Updates may include minor edits, image changes, or other modifications to page content.

Reviewed: August 25, 2026

The information on this page was last reviewed by subject matter experts to ensure accuracy.