Cary Chen Parker M.P.H.

FDA’s CORE+EP team conducts outbreak surveillance, investigation, mitigation, and post-response initiatives for products regulated by the Human Foods Program, including the analysis of outbreak data for food safety decision-making and sharing outbreak findings with food safety stakeholders. 

This article provides background information about FDA’s CORE+EP Signals team's day-to-day work in detecting foodborne illness outbreaks and triaging incidents, and highlights some real-world examples and partnerships that have occurred to improve food safety and protect consumers.

The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration's (IFSAC) Annual Report analyzes U.S. foodborne illness outbreak data for priority pathogens and specific foods and food categories. This data helps shape FDA priorities for the upcoming year, informs stakeholders, and helps the agency assess the effectiveness of prevention measures.