Stronger Partnerships for Safer Food

George Washington University Professor Michael R. Taylor and the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) today released a new report, Stronger Partnerships for Safer Food: An Agenda for Strengthening State and Local Roles in the Nation’s Food Safety System.

With attention direction toward federal food safety reform, the vital contributions of state and local agencies are often forgotten. Food safety reform will be incomplete and insufficient unless an integrated national food safety system takes full advantage of and enhances the contribution state and local agencies.

The report outlines the current roles of federal, state, and local agencies in protecting Americans against foodborne illness.  It contains 27 findings on the strengths and weaknesses in illness surveillance, outbreak response, regulation, and inspection. The report makes 19 specific recommendations for strengthening state and local roles and for building an integrated national food safety system that works effectively to prevent foodborne illness. It is the product of a collaborative project involving the GW School of Public Health and Health Services, AFDO, ASTHO, and NACCHO and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.