The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Partnership for Food Protection’s Surveillance, Response and Post Response Workgroup recently released “Best Practices for Use of FoodSHIELD During Food and Feed Incidents.” The document provides guidance on how FDA, state, and local health officials can utilize the program FoodSHIELD to share information during food and feed incidents.

FoodSHIELD is a web‐based communication, coordination, education, and training platform for food safety. Health officials use the system’s online tools to coordinate responses to food and feed-related outbreaks. Currently, FoodSHIELD has 11,461 total users and 140 workgroups.

“Best Practices for Use of FoodSHIELD During Food and Feed Incidents” provides specific instructions on how FDA, state, and local health officials can utilize FoodSHIELD to its maximum potential. It sets roles, responsibilities, and procedures for the different stakeholders. The document also includes information on initiating, managing, and maintaining workgroups.