What to know
The Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence (Food Safety CoEs) provide peer assistance and training to support others track, investigate, and prevent enteric disease illnesses and outbreaks.
About
The Food Safety CoEs develop and provide online and in-person resources, training, and assistance related to enteric disease and food safety.
The program was established in 2012 under the authority of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). FSMA was signed into law in January 2011 to improve prevention, surveillance, and response to outbreaks of foodborne illness. In the legislation, CDC is charged with designating Food Safety CoEs at state health departments in partnership with academic institutions. Food Safety CoEs identify and implement best practices and serve as a peer resource for public health professionals.
The current Centers are Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, and Washington.
Centers and regions
To better serve their mission of providing tools and resources to assist other state and local public health professionals, the Food Safety CoEs have developed geographic regions. These regions provide a point-of-contact to help guide jurisdictions to the resources that best meet their needs. If you’re not sure who to contact for assistance, reach out to your regional Food Safety CoE and let them help you navigate the wide array of resources.
Learn more about the Food Safety CoEs:
Products and services
The Food Safety CoEs have developed a variety of tools and resources for state and local health departments. These products include training courses, guidance documents, and templates. Products from all the Food Safety CoEs are available at https://foodsafetycoe.org/.
Food Safety CoEs also assist state and local health departments on a one-on-one basis. Depending on your needs, one of the Food Safety CoEs may be able to visit you in-person or provide consultation remotely. Contact a Food Safety CoE to learn more about the services they offer.
Priority strategies
The Food Safety CoEs prioritize their activities based on regional needs, expertise within the Food Safety CoE, and emerging issues. This work generally falls under four focus areas.
- Strengthen & Improve foodborne illness surveillance, outbreak investigations, and information systems in other jurisdictions by providing consultations, developing tools/resources, and offering general assistance
- Evaluate & Analyze the timeliness and effectiveness of foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak response and perform program evaluation, quality improvement, and/or other special projects
- Train & Educate students and public health personnel in laboratory, epidemiological, and environmental investigation of foodborne illness
- Disseminate & Communicate information about available tools and resources for food safety and foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak response to local, state, and federal public health officials and other stakeholders
Resources and tools
Food Safety CoE Products: Access free, online products developed by the Food Safety CoEs
Food Safety CoE Listserv: Get updates on the Food Safety CoEs sent directly to your email inbox
Food Safety CoE Newsletters: Read the Food Safety CoE quarterly newsletter, Centered on Food Safety