At a glance
Most foodborne outbreaks occur in retail food establishments like restaurants. An environmental assessment is an important part of outbreak investigations. It provides information that can stop ongoing outbreaks and prevent them in the future. But health department investigators do not always conduct environmental assessments of outbreaks. Learn about what we found about why this happens.
Key takeaways
Investigators did environmental assessments when:
- They knew or suspected the illness that caused the outbreak
- Their health department had a policy to do these assessments
- Their health department had the people and time available to do the assessment
Investigators did not do environmental assessments when:
- Their health department lacked resources or training
- The restaurant was not in their health department's jurisdiction
- Restaurant staff did not want to cooperate
- Poor communication prevented timely responses
Why this is important
Environmental assessments provide information that can stop ongoing outbreaks and prevent them in the future. But health department investigators do not always conduct environmental assessments of outbreaks.
We are working to learn more about how retail establishment characteristics and food safety policies and practices relate to foodborne outbreaks. Our goal is to provide data to help food safety programs develop effective approaches to prevent outbreaks.
More information
Journal article this plain language summary is based on
CDC's Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS)
Resources from CDC's Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence (CoE)