The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation and Emergency Preparedness (CORE+EP) has published its annual report summarising the investigations of foodborne illness outbreaks and specific adverse events in FDA-regulated human foods for 2024.
The FDA's CORE+EP was established in 2011 as the CORE Network and, in October 2024, expanded to include an emergency preparedness team focused on food defence, traceability and supply chain management.
One of the office's missions is to find, stop and help prevent foodborne illness outbreaks.
This is accomplished through disease surveillance, outbreak response, post-response activities and collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state and local public health agencies and international public health partners.
Every year, CORE teams evaluate and respond to numerous foodborne outbreaks and certain adverse events linked to FDA-regulated products.
In 2024, CORE teams evaluated 72 incidents, including potential outbreaks, confirmed outbreaks and adverse events; responded to 26; and issued advisories for ten.
Public health advisories provide consumers with actionable advice to stay safe when an FDA-regulated food is linked to an outbreak. In 2024, nine were related to multistate outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and one corresponded to an adverse event series.
These numbers remain similar to those of recent years. In 2023, 69 incidents were evaluated, resulting in 25 responses and 10 advisories.
In 2024, CORE investigations led to numerous public health actions, including recalls, public health advisories, a Warning Letter, a consent decree with a permanent injunction and FDA prevention strategies.
The 2024 annual report also highlights a few noteworthy outbreaks, including a large E. coli outbreak linked to carrots, a historical outbreak of illnesses associated with cheese and a novel series of adverse events linked to certain chocolate bars, cones and gummies.
"In 2024, [the] FDA's Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition was part of the single largest reorganisation in [the] FDA's modern history and became known as the Human Foods Program," said Dr Stic Harris, CORE+EP Director.
"With this reorganisation, CORE expanded to become CORE+EP."
While the CORE teams continue to safeguard public health by ensuring the safety and integrity of the nation's food supply through continued outbreak detection, response and aiding in prevention efforts, the EP side is focused on the management of food defence, traceability and supply chain programmes.
"We managed several high-profile investigations throughout 2024, including a large outbreak of E. coli linked to carrots, a historical outbreak of illnesses associated with cheese that had stumped investigators since 2018, and a novel adverse events series linked to Diamond Shruumz-Brand Chocolate bars, cones and gummies."
2024 also saw the introduction of the Food Traceability Rule, which implements Section 204(d) of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
The full CORE 2024 Annual Report is available to view here.