Abstract

For at least the past 15 years, food safety stakeholders across all levels of government have recognized the critical role that state and local agencies play in our nation's food safety system. State and local agencies are the first responders to foodborne outbreaks and have primary responsibility for keeping their residents safe from foodborne disease through effective surveillance and rapid response to outbreaks. They also conduct the vast majority of food safety inspections across the nation's restaurants, grocery stores, and other food service and food retail establishments.Recent efforts among industry and government officials alike have focused on creating a more integrated, prevention-oriented food safety system. The Food Safety Modernization Act, the first major overhaul of the nation's food safety laws since the 1930s, now mandates that most sectors of the food industry put preventive controls in place, changing the emphasis of what the FDA does from response to prevention.