1600 Clifton Road NE, MS-D63
Atlanta, GA 30033
Phone: + 1-404-639-2213

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Our Vision
All communities free of serious foodborne illness 

Our Mission 
The mission of CDC's Food Safety Office is to lead CDC’s food safety program to prevent illness, disability and death due to domestic and imported foodborne diseases. 

In order to accomplish our mission we; 1) Collaborate with and support other CDC organizations, focusing on attainment of food safety program plan goals and objectives.  2) Work in partnership with FDA, USDA, EPA, state and local health departments and other public and private organizations to strengthen regulations and policies for prevention of foodborne diseases; to strengthen national surveillance and outbreak response systems, and to educate consumers and public health professionals.

 Our Objectives 

Strategic Plan Objectives and Goals:  The following strategic objectives and goals developed by the FSO provide guidance to those CDC organizations to follow when developing their action plans.

	Objective 1 - Improve routine surveillance and epidemiology of foodborne illnesses to determine disease burden, track trends, detect outbreaks and attribute illness to specific foods:
		Goal 1:  Enhance speed and efficiency of reporting foodborne illnesses.
		Goal 2:  Timely transfer of technology to local, state, and federal partners to improve routine surveillance.
		Goal 3:  Enhance linkage of epidemiologic case reports with laboratory subtype information.
		Goal 4:  Develop or pursue population-based methods to assess the burden of foodborne disease morbidity or mortality.
		Goal 5:  Determine the proportion of foodborne illnesses attributable to specific foods.
	Objective 2 - Improve foodborne outbreak detection and response at the local, state and national levels:
		Goal 1: Decrease delay(s) in detection/recognition and reporting of outbreaks (earlier detection).
		Goal 2: Increase the percentage of recognized outbreaks reported to health authorities.
		Goal 3: Improve identification of agent(s) and vehicle(s) causing outbreaks.
		Goal 4: Identify new and infrequently detected etiologies of foodborne outbreaks.
		Goal 5: Develop and support state and local health department workforce (e.g., standardize guidelines; provide training and technical assistance, job aids, etc.).
		Goal 6: Assess utility of novel or enhanced surveillance strategies to improve outbreak detection and investigation.
		Goal 7: Contribute scientific information to food regulatory agencies to improve the safety of food by improving farm-to-table processes.
	Objective 3 - Improve laboratory methods for foodborne pathogens:
		Goal 1: Develop rapid, easier to use, and more cost effective diagnostic methods.
		Goal 2: Develop, evaluate and validate more sensitive and informative molecular methods for subtyping to support surveillance and outbreak investigations.
		Goal 3: Timely transfer of lab technology to local, state and federal partners.
		Goal 4: Identify/characterize existing and new foodborne pathogens.
		Goal 5: Support state and local health department lab reference activities.
	Objective 4 – Enhance prevention effectiveness through Improved Communications, Training and Education:
		Goal 1: Provide timely and useful summaries of surveillance and outbreak information to partners and to public, including summaries that track effectiveness of specific disease control programs.
		Goal 2: Disseminate foodborne illness prevention information to the general public, public health professionals and other relevant audiences.
		Goal 3: Enhance electronic information sharing of surveillance, outbreak, recall, and other data between partners.
		Goal 4: Liaison activities, site visits and presentations to build collaborative/partner relations and avoid duplication of efforts.
	Objective 5* - Improve International Collaboration on Surveillance, Communications, Training and Education:
		Goal 1: Improve routine surveillance of foodborne illness globally.
		Goal 2: Improve international outbreak detection and response.
		Goal 3: Develop and enhance international communication, training and education programs.

*Food safety funding not available to support objective 5, global strategies. However; global objectives, goals, and action plans need to be part of our strategy so we can seek/capitalize on future funding opportunities. See goals in objectives 1, 2, and 4 above for ideas for developing global food safety action plans.

Overview of CDC food safety activities and programs

For more information about CDC's Food Safety Office please call 404-639-2213.