State Foodborne Illness Reporting Laws

Each year foodborne illnesses sicken an estimated 48 million people, leading to more than 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State and local agencies play a critical role in keeping US food safe, and detecting and responding to outbreaks of foodborne illness.

State foodborne illness laws regulate which illnesses need to be reported, the timeframe for reporting, and which agencies must then be informed of the illness and/or outbreak. This dataset focuses on state laws relating to foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak response, including the reporting requirements for several of the most common foodborne diseases.