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Food Safety

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About the Food Safety Program

Protecting people from foodborne illness

In Washington, about 40 to 60 foodborne illness outbreaks affecting 400 to 700 people occur each year. Because many milder cases aren't diagnosed or reported, the actual number of people ill may be many times greater, in the tens of thousands. Foodborne illness can be serious, often resulting in lost work days, hospitalization, or even death.

While large outbreaks tend to be associated with restaurants and other food service settings, home kitchens are also commonly implicated as a source of outbreaks. Despite advances in food safety, preventing foodborne illness and death remains a major public health challenge. 

The Food Safety Program is a progressive team dedicated to promoting safe practices in retail and food service settings to minimize the incidence of foodborne illness. We work in partnership with the food service industry and local, state, and federal agencies, in particular local health departments. In close collaboration with these partners, our program focuses on activities to: strengthen regulation and polices for prevention of foodborne illness; educate public health professionals, food service employees, and consumers on safe practices; and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks and food-related emergencies.

Resources we provide

• Food worker card information - Answers to common questions about the food worker card and food safety training.

• Food and beverage workers' manual - Study guide on safe food handling practices for workers in the food service industry.

• Food safety rules and regulations - State rules on food service and food worker cards.

• Food safety contacts - List of food safety contacts at local health departments.

• Recalls - Food recalls and safety alerts affecting our state.

• Restaurant inspection reports - Links to online inspection reports and tips on eating out.

• Hand washing signs - Multi-language posters on hand washing intended for food service employees or the public.

• Local heath resources - Resources to help local health departments address food safety issues in their communities.

• Food industry resources - Resources to help food industries ensure that their food products are safe.

• Fact Sheets - Food safety tips for barbecues, holidays, power outages. Common causes of foodborne illness such as Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella.

Helping local and national partners

The Food Safety Program works with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure food served and supplied to the public by Washington State retail and food service establishments is safe. The following program activities help support our partners in addressing food safety:

• Provide technical assistance and training on how to reduce known risk factors associated with foodborne illness.

• Assist partners on conducting investigations of foodborne illness outbreaks.

• Promote consistent interpretation and implementation of the food service rules statewide by initiating the Food Safety Review Council with this sole purpose and by responding to inquiries from partners.

• Interact closely with local, state, and federal partners, such as Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture, and coordinate timely responses to statewide food recalls and safety alerts.

• Foster the best use of current knowledge involving state and national foodborne illness data, known risk factors, and partners' input in program operations and in the amendment of food service regulations.