Prevention

Food safety is a shared responsibility.  From farm to fork to physician plays an important role in preventing foodborne illness.

Government can:

• Ensure that food production and service facilities adopt proven preventive measures and enforce food safety laws and regulations, including requirements for eggs, meat, poultry, and processed and imported foods;
• Increase and improve inspections in the US and abroad;
• Develop and implement safety standards for food;
• Develop new, and improve existing, prevention strategies based on what is learned from outbreaks, inspections, and monitoring systems;
• Track trends, report progress, and make sure policies aimed at reducing infections work;
• Fund state and community efforts to identify and report sicknesses and catch outbreaks faster;
• Investigate outbreaks thoroughly to identify sources and improve control strategies;
• Develop new tools to find sources of contamination and characterize germs faster.

Farmers, grocery stores, and places that make, sell, or serve food can:

• Use good management practices to reduce contamination when raising livestock or food animals;
• Adopt proven preventive measures for food safety plans in all food production and service facilities;
• Follow the US Food and Drug Administration Model Food Code in restaurants and other places that serve food;
• Keep good records of food and food ingredients origins;
• Train and certify managers in food safety in all restaurants.

Health care providers can:

• Diagnose and treat infections by using best practices and report them rapidly;
• Talk to high-risk patients about food safety;
• Report suspected outbreaks to your local health department.

Everyone can:

• Use safe food and water.  Be aware of food recalls and know the risks;
• Wash hands, cutting boards, utensils, and countertops;
• Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood separate from ready-to-eat foods;
• Use a digital food thermometer to ensure that foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature: 145°F for whole meats (allowing the meat to rest for 3 minutes before carving or consuming), 160°F for ground meats, and 165°F for all poultry;
• Keep your refrigerator below 40°F and refrigerate food that will spoil;
• Report suspected illness from food to your local health department;
• Don't prepare food for others if you have diarrhea or vomiting;
• Be especially careful preparing food for children, pregnant women, those in poor health, and older adults.