Rhode Island EHS-Net Practice Based Research to Improve Food Safety

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Project Summary/Abstract: Rhode Island EHS-Net Practice Based Research to Improve Food Safety The overarching goal of the research being proposed by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), Center for Food Protection (CFP) is to improve the practice of environmental health services by maintaining participation in the Environmental Health Specialist Network (EHS-Net) and conducting practice-based research to identify and prevent environmental risk factors contributing to foodborne illness. The specific aims include: (1) Conducting foodborne outbreak environmental assessments and reporting findings to the National Environmental Assessment; (2) Identifying and improving our understanding of environmental factors associated with retail food safety and identify interventions that can be implemented on a national basis; (3) Reducing Illness through Investigations and Evaluating Food Safety Service Programs; and (4) Developing and disseminating findings from EHS-Net projects. AIM 1 will directly contribute to the identification of risk factors that are associated with foodborne illness outbreaks. Rhode Island will conduct environmental assessments during 100% of foodborne illness investigations and report these findings to NEARS. AIM 2 addresses the participation in CDC multisite studies which will contribute to the not only the identification of risk factors associated with foodborne illness but also the interventions to address those risk factors. With eight ESH-Net sites across the country, the representation of these studies will make the findings more generalizable to the Unites States and will have a significant impact on reducing foodborne illness in the nation. AIM 3 details the Rhode Island specific projects that will help to close the gap on topics related to Norovirus interventions and prevention, the impact of having a certified manager at all times and improving environmental assessments during foodborne illness outbreak investigations. Lastly, AIM 4 emphasis the importance of disseminating the findings from AIM’s 1, 2, and 3 to have the largest impact on improving environmental health practices and reducing illnesses associated with foodborne pathogens. The projects proposed in this application use innovative methods utilizing practice-based research to evaluate the effectiveness of novel policies and regulations such as the Rhode Island Sick Time Law and the regulation that requires a Certified Food Safety Manager at all times. In addition, best practices associated with environmental assessments, such as environmental sampling, will be evaluated and incorporated into a training manual that can be adopted by other State and Local health departments. These projects aim to improve environmental health practices and reduce illness at a national level.