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Food Sampling

Strategy Check

Target Objectives

  • Determine if the investigation warrants food sampling
     

  • Determine what food samples to collect
     

  • Utilize best practices for collection and transport of food samples
     

  • Identify special considerations for food sample collection

Target Objectives
Strategy Check

Tips and Tricks

  • If the outbreak is associated with a specific event, try to collect leftovers from the establishment or from attendees who may have taken food home
     

  • If the implicated food is packaged, the best sampling scenario is to collect both an opened and unopened package
     

  • If the exact foods from the time of the outbreak are not available, it may be valuable to collect the same food prepared at a different time. Be sure to ask what is different about this process compared to the suspected process, noting differences in who prepared the food and the source of the food. 
     

  • If warranted and resources are available, you may offer duplicate samples to the establishment's owner/manager, if they want to test samples at a third-party in addition to the public health lab

Tips and Tricks

Toolkit

Environmental Sampling

Toolkit
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