CDC estimates 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each year in the United States.(link) Norovirus is the leading cause of outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States. About 50% of all outbreaks of food-related illness are caused by norovirus. Most of these outbreaks occur in food service settings like restaurants. Infected food workers are frequently the source of outbreaks in food-service settings, often by touching ready-to-eat foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, with their bare hands before serving them. However, any food served raw or handled after being cooked can get contaminated with norovirus.(link)

Inspections are an important part of the FDA’s food safety program. They can be used to verify compliance with the laws administered by the FDA, as a surveillance tool in the wake of outbreaks, and to follow up on specific issues such as a product recall or when other risk factors have been identified. The FDA prioritizes inspections using a risk-based approach that takes into account today’s global food supply and markets and focuses on issues of food safety that may affect public health.(link)

Food safety inspections have been shown to reduce the number of foodborne disease outbreaks.(link)

The United States has fully embraced HACCP as a regulatory requirement in meat and poultry production since implementation of the Pathogen Reduction, HACCP Systems Final Rule in 1996. Although not directly tied to meat and poultry slaughter and processing, the 2011 charge to FDA by Congress in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) further demonstrated a conclusive shift in the U.S. government’s attitude about food safety. (link)

  Food Security Complete 100% of inspections for licensed food facilities each year