Food Safety Program
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Foodborne illness in the United States is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cause 76 million cases of illnesses, over 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths annually. Hospitalizations due to foodborne illnesses are estimated to cost over $3 billion and lost productivity is estimated to cost between $20 billion and $40 billion each year. NACCHO strives to support and work with local health departments to improve food safety and prevent foodborne illness.
As we rush around this holiday season, it's important to remember these food safety tips to help you safely prepare and enjoy your favorite dishes:
Don't Cross Contaminate — keep raw foods and ready to eat foods separate. Party Leftovers — discard all perishable foods that have been sitting at room temperature for more than two hours. Clean Hands and Surfaces — practice food safety by washing hands, utensils, and surfaces with warm soapy water. Avoid the Danger Zone — bacteria can rapidly grow between 40 to 140 degrees. For more food safety tips, visit the FDA's "Food Safety for the Holidays" Web site. More »
Enhancing Roles of State-Local Government in an Integrated Food Safety System
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) are collaborating with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), and the George Washington University (GWU) to strengthen state and local roles in food safety. This project, funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, aims to examine ways to define and advance an agenda for modernizing and strengthening the roles of state and local agencies in the nation’s food safety system. To achieve this aim, we are organizing four workshops to discuss state and local public health roles related to surveillance, inspection, regulation, and outbreak response. The documents related to this collaborative project are located on the Food Safety Resource Consortium’s web site, www.thefsrc.org. The NACCHO contact for this project is schandar@naccho.org.
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