Root Cause Analysis for Retail Food Safety

Root Cause Analysis is a critical part of the food safety problem solving process. This analytical process breaks down the system into its components enabling an understanding of the effect of each component on others and/or the system. Root cause analysis techniques assist regulatory and industry professionals in identifying possible causes, determining actual causes, and implementing solutions.

This course develops the skills needed to define the problem, collect data, determine the “why” of the violation or outbreak, and identify solutions by applying the concepts of root cause analysis to reduce risk factor violation occurrence and enhance foodborne illness outbreak investigations.

Objectives

1. Apply root cause analysis to food safety violations and outbreaks
2. Definie problems clearly and collecting relevant data
3. Compare and identify both possible and actual root causes of issues
4. Develop effective, long-term solutions to reduce risk factor violations
5. Evaluate and distinguise analytical and creative thinking in problem solving
6. Demonstrate structured tools to analyze complex food safety problems
7. Improve problem-solving efforts even outside your area of expertise

Sessions

• February 2, 2026 — 4.5-hour virtual session (11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST)
• February 3, 2026 — 4.5-hour virtual session (11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST)
• February 4, 2026 — 4.5-hour virtual session (11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST)
• February 5, 2026 — 4.5-hour virtual session (11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST)