FDA, CDC Partner to Strengthen Retail Food Safety with MOU
On September 21, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health (CDC’s NCEH) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that formalizes a partnership between the agencies for the purpose of reducing foodborne illness hazards in food retail and foodservice establishments.
An objective of NCEH is to support state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) environmental health programs in their efforts to respond to adverse environmental exposures, such as foodborne illness outbreaks, and their health consequences. While FDA guides retail food protection efforts at the federal level through the National Retail Food Team (NRFT), STLT governments exercise primary regulatory control over the retail food industry.