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ISDS 2012 Conference Abstracts

State Foodborne Illness Surveillance and Response
Laws: Compilation and Analysis
Stephanie David, Jenna Burton, Chris Chadwick and Rebecca Katz*

George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

Objective
To document and assess the variation in state legislation relating to

foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response for all 50 states
and the District of Columbia by creating a database and appendix of
laws and regulations that will be made available to researchers and
policymakers.

Introduction
Foodborne illnesses sicken 48 million and kill 3,000 Americans

every year, presenting an enduring threat to the public’s health. In
just the past three years alone, the United States has experienced at
least four major multistate outbreaks in food. Despite this growing
problem, efforts to prevent foodborne illness pose a particular public
health challenge due in part to the widely variable laws governing
foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak response. The recent pas-
sage of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) presents an op-
portunity for researchers, program managers, and policy makers to
assess and correct the legal barriers that may hinder states in effec-
tively implementing the FSMA’s vision with regard to increased state
and local capacity for surveillance and outbreak response.

Methods
We conducted a systematic review and analysis of laws and regu-

lations relating to foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak re-
sponse in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using the
following methods: (1) we created a database to record state laws and

regulations relating to foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak
response in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; (2) we con-
ducted a basic gap analysis of state foodborne illness surveillance and
outbreak response laws and policies collected in the database; and
(3) we conducted case study analyses of previous multistate outbreaks
from 2008-2011.

Results
Through compilation of the state foodborne illness surveillance

and outbreak response laws and regulations and analysis of previous
multistate outbreaks, we are able to present trends, variations, and
gaps in the legislation that directly impacts the ability of public health
officials to conduct foodborne outbreak investigations. We also pres-
ent policy recommendations for strengthening state laws and regula-
tions.

Keywords
Surveillance; Foodborne disease; Outbreak response; Public health
law; Legal preparedness

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the RWJ Foundation.

*Rebecca Katz
E-mail: rlkatz@gwu.edu

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 5(1):e70, 2013