Whether or not a country’s food businesses have largely achieved food safety certification is the second most important predictor of instances of foodborne illness, according to a recent study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA’s NIFA).
To determine the relationship between certification against food safety standards and foodborne illness outbreaks, researchers collected data on foodborne illnesses in the U.S. spanning 2015–2020 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Outbreak Reporting System (CDC’s NORS). Certification data for the same time period was gathered from the websites of standards holders, specifically, SQF, PrimusGFS, BRC, USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), GlobalG.A.P., and FSSC22000. Data for ISO 22000 and IFS were omitted because ISO 22000 adoption in the U.S. is minimal, and IFS does not disclose certification information. Therefore, the study encompasses certification adoption information for five of the seven major private food safety standards, plus one government standard (USDA GAP).