CDC Involvement in Food Safety and Foodborne Illness Outbreak Management

Unlike the FDA and USDA Food Safety Inspection Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is not a food safety and quality regulatory body. The CDC is primarily a public health agency that focuses on protecting public health by preventing and controlling diseases, including food-borne illnesses; it plays an essential role in safeguarding public health through its focus on food-borne illness prevention, outbreak investigation, research, and education.

As a food business operator, you do not need to register with the CDC and thus; the CDC does not have the authority to charge or impose fines on you for non-compliance when a food-borne illness outbreak occurs. However, there can be a collaboration that involves information sharing about products, processes, and supply chains during an outbreak investigation; food business operators can assist in tracing the source of contamination by sharing detailed records of production and distribution; and food businesses may participate in research studies conducted by the CDC to improve the understanding of food-borne pathogens and effective prevention strategies.

Surveillance and Outbreak Detection Role of CDC in Food Safety

The CDC plays a crucial role in monitoring and detecting food-borne illnesses. The CDC helps make food safer by working with partners to determine the major sources of food-borne illnesses, track annual changes in illness numbers, investigate multi-state outbreaks, and implement systems to prevent illnesses and stop outbreaks. They also assist state and local health departments in improving the tracking and investigation of food-borne illnesses through surveillance systems like PulseNet, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), the System for Enteric Disease Response, Investigation, and Coordination (SEDRIC), and the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS). Additionally, the CDC uses data to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention measures and identify areas for further efforts and new prevention targets. They also collaborate with other countries and international agencies to enhance the tracking, investigation, and prevention of food-borne infections both in the United States and globally.

CDC and the Food Safety Modernization Act

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is primarily responsible for implementing the laws, rules, and guidance of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), but the CDC also plays a crucial role in this effort. Signed into law in 2011, FSMA aims to protect public health by strengthening the food safety system, focusing on preventing food safety issues before they occur and emphasizing the importance of strong food-borne illness and outbreak surveillance systems. Rapid detection and response to food-borne disease outbreaks are essential for stopping outbreaks, preventing future occurrences, and reducing the overall burden of food-borne illness. FSMA directs the CDC to enhance food-borne illness surveillance systems through improved data collection, analysis, and reporting. In support of FSMA, the CDC engages in four key activities: creating and managing Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence with academic partners at state health departments to aid local, state, and federal public health professionals in detecting and responding to food-borne illnesses and outbreaks; implementing activities to improve the collection, analysis, and reporting of food-borne surveillance data with guidance from a multidisciplinary working group; and developing and disseminating guidelines to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs.

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FSQ Writer: Oluwatobi Eniyandunmo 

Reviewed by: Raphael Samson 

Kindly reach out to Fresh Group Food Safety And Quality Consulting for any food quality and safety inquiries.