a stated period (e.g., 3 to 5 years). The reported frequency of food source contributing factors was even higher than reported during prepan- demic years at 51%. This finding points to the high priority of food source contamination in bacterial outbreaks and the need for more eective programs to reduce these problems. At the inspectional level, we could set a goal of reducing food source contributing factors to 30% within 3 to 5 years, the same goal as for prepandemic outbreaks. These types of outbreaks (e.g., a large, multistate outbreak of E. coli from a farm) tend to get the most media coverage; how- ever, it is important to note that the majority of foodborne outbreaks occur at a local level at retail food establishments. Therefore, learning lessons about how and why these outbreaks occur is crucial to prevent future outbreaks. We can also learn many lessons from local outbreaks that can be applied to larger multistate outbreaks originating at manufacturing facilities. Insights and Conclusions Food safety programs that focus on reducing the frequency of foodborne disease contrib- uting factors and root causes can be called “epidemiology-driven food safety programs.” This approach demonstrates the scientific focus of the programs and helps to justify the eorts of all interested parties. Contributing factors reflect breakdowns in food safety and these findings can help set food safety priori- ties for both regulatory agencies and the food industry. By establishing metrics to reduce the occurrence of contributing factors, we should see a decline in violations during inspections of those contributing factors, therefore pre- venting outbreaks. A key piece of using metrics is collecting quality data. The outbreak learning labs previ- ously mentioned are a great resource for those professionals who conduct environmental assessments to understand how and why out- breaks occur. The other resource we encour- age using is the EHS-Net sick worker plan to address food workers who work while ill and who can potentially contaminate food. Disclaimer: The conclusions in this guest editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the view of any fed- eral agency or the National Environmental Health Association.
FIGURE 1
Outbreak Root Cause Learning Labs
Source: https://foodsafetycoe.org/product/10368/
FIGURE 2
Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) Sick Worker Plan
Source: https://www.afdo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Sick-Worker-Toolkit.pdf
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June 2025 • Journal of Environmental Health
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