Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence

About the Food Safety CoE Program

The Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence build capacity in other health departments by developing and providing online and in-person resources, training, and assistance for enteric disease surveillance and outbreak investigations.

The program was established in 2012 under the authority of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was signed into law on January 4, 2011 to improve prevention, surveillance, and response to outbreaks of foodborne illness. In the legislation, CDC is charged with designating Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence at state health departments in partnership with academic institutions to identify and implement best practices in foodborne disease surveillance and to serve as a resource for public health professionals at state, local, and regional levels.

CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/centers/index.html

Tennessee Food Safety CoE

The Tennessee CoE is a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Health and the University of Tennessee Knoxville serving the southeast region of the United States including the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Our mission is to providing trainings and tools/resources to state and local health departments to develop and support local multi-disciplinary teams that respond to foodborne outbreaks.

To learn more about our work click here.

Food Safety CoE Products

The CoEs are funded to develop products and resources to meet the training and education needs of state and local health department staff. Products and resources range from toolkits to just-in-time training videos. FoodSafetyCoE.org is a one-stop-shop all your food safety needs.