CDC Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence
The CDC has designated five Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, and Washington. Each CoE is comprised of a state health department and an affiliated university partner. The Centers work together to identify model practices in foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response and to serve as resources to assist other state and local public health professionals in implementing these practices.
The Tennessee Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence
The Tennessee Integrated Food Safety CoE specializes in providing training and tools/resources to develop and support local multi-disciplinary, integrated teams that are prepared to respond to a foodborne outbreak.
With the CDC’s support, this Center aims to:
- Provide technical help and training in epidemiological, laboratory, and environmental investigations
- Decrease the burden of foodborne illness using improved techniques in detection, investigation, control, and reporting
- Use information gathered during outbreak investigations to prevent future illnesses and outbreaks
- Develop and share best practices through their six main activity areas