Food Safety
Ensuring a safe and healthy food supply
About
ASTHO's food safety program assists state efforts to prevent and respond to outbreaks of foodborne disease and collaborates with national partners and federal agencies to improve the nation's food safety system.
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Virtual Food Safety Inspections During the COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 has changed the way food establishments do business. To ensure that food establishments were abiding by food safety regulations and to protect the health of food safety professionals who inspect these facilities, multiple state health agencies implemented virtual inspection protocols. This brief overviews virtual inspection protocols from Hawaii, Virginia, and South Carolina to provide other state and territorial health agencies with examples of how these inspections are performed.
Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response: Assessing the Legal and Institutional Framework for Interagency Information Sharing
This report discusses the legal and institutional framework impacting information sharing during a foodborne disease outbreak. Through legal research, ASTHO created an appendix of state laws and regulations relating to state health agency authority to protect non-public information from public disclosure. This information is available via an interactive map in LawAtlas. In addition, ASTHO surveyed state health agencies to better understand information sharing practices with federal and state food regulatory agencies. The report highlights major findings from our research and provides five recommendations to enhance information sharing.