Food Safety Matters

Ep. 55. CDC: Investigating Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Dr. Laura Gieraltowski leads the Foodborne Outbreak Response Team in the Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. She leads the team that helps coordinate the national network of epidemiologists and other public health officials who investigate outbreaks of foodborne and other enteric illnesses.

Laura is a graduate of CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service Program. She received a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and has a Masters of Public Health degree in behavioral health sciences from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. She has worked at the CDC since 2009 and has been involved in numerous multistate outbreak investigations leading to the identification and recall of food products.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Android

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Laura [14:39] about:

CDC's role in foodborne outbreak investigations
How CDC works with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis vs. whole-genome sequencing, and why the former is no longer the standard method for DNA fingerprinting when investigating a foodborne outbreak
How outbreak investigations become more or less complicated depending on what type of food product is involved
Changes and advancements coming to food safety within the next 5–10 years

News Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Issues First Foreign Supplier Verification Program Warning [1:35]
FDA Tests Romaine Lettuce in Yuma Growing Region for Pathogens [3:56]
USDA to Consumers: Do Not Wash Raw Poultry [7:55]

Keep Up with Food Safety Magazine
Follow Us on Twitter @FoodSafetyMag and on Facebook
Subscribe to our magazine and our biweekly eNewsletter

We Want to Hear From You!
Please share your comments, questions, and suggestions. Tell us about yourself—we'd love to hear about your food safety challenges and successes. We want to get to you know you! Here are a few ways to be in touch with us.