About

Craig W. Hedberg is a Professor in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota. His research extensively focuses on foodborne diseases, food safety, and public health surveillance, with a particular emphasis on foodborne outbreaks, Salmonella, and illness related to restaurants and food safety in the United States. Hedberg's work contributes to multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, Climate Action, and Partnerships for the Goals. His research integrates quantitative risk assessment models, pathogen genomics, and public health preparedness to improve food safety and disease prevention. Hedberg has led numerous projects funded by organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Minnesota Department of Health, and the American Frozen Food Institute, focusing on topics like PulseNet evaluation, food safety centers of excellence, public health preparedness, and risk assessment of listeriosis from frozen potato products. His scholarly output includes peer-reviewed articles, review articles, and contributions to public health knowledge, with a strong emphasis on utilizing routinely collected data for foodborne illness prevention and improving outbreak reporting. Hedberg is also active in media engagement, providing expert commentary on food safety and public health issues, including COVID-19 safety and food recalls linked to listeria.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Virology
• Biology
• Business
• Immunology
• Geography
• Political Science
• Biotechnology
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Food science
• Internal medicine
• Microbiology
• Family medicine
• Surgery
• Nursing
• Mathematics
• Genetics
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Effect of Salmonella Cluster Detection and Investigation Methods on Outbreak Reporting in the United States, 2013–2017

  Journal of Food Protection · 2026-05-07

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Cluster detection and outbreak investigation practices and resources vary across states. There is a lack of evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of Salmonella cluster detection and investigation practices on outbreak detection and reporting by states. We conducted an online survey of all 50 U.S. state health departments (HDs) in 2015 to assess how pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) cluster detection and outbreak investigation practices and resources at the state affected reporting single-state Salmonella outbreaks to CDC's Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS) from 2013 to 2017. Increased rates of Salmonella outbreak reporting were observed for states that used a standard hypothesis-generating questionnaire (HGQ) for conducting hypothesis-generating interviews (HGIs) (155% increase), conducted routine HGIs for all cases (85% increase), and used a standard PFGE cluster definition (40% increase) compared to states that did not use these practices. Multivariable regression models demonstrated that participation in the Foodborne Diseases Center for Outbreak Response Effectiveness (FoodCORE) or OutbreakNet Enhanced (OBNE) and per capita funding through Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) grants explained more of the variability in outbreak reporting than individual surveillance practices. Results suggest that the combination of practices promoted by FoodCORE and OBNE enhances the potential effectiveness of the individual practices used in isolation. While PFGE is no longer the standard method for subtyping, these findings demonstrate how surveillance activities relate to outbreak reporting and provide a framework for evaluating the impact of current surveillance practices. With the shift from PFGE to whole genome sequencing (WGS), ongoing evaluation of surveillance practices at state and local levels will be critical to maintaining the evidence base for effective surveillance and reducing the public health burden of Salmonella infections.

  PublisherDOI

• Routine Restaurant Inspections: An Underutilized Data Source for Foodborne Illness Prevention

  Journal of Food Protection · 2026-02-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  • Restaurants are frequent settings for foodborne illness transmission. • Restaurant inspection data are not commonly linked to illness surveillance data. • Most studies focused on comparing outbreak restaurants to non-outbreak restaurants. • Studies demonstrate that compliance translates to reductions in foodborne illness. • Linking inspection data to illness data can inform prevention methods. Foodborne illness remains an important public health challenge and restaurants are frequent settings for foodborne illness transmission. Restaurant inspections are a core public health function aimed at reducing the risk of foodborne illness transmission. While public health surveillance data and restaurant inspection data are both routinely collected and share a common goal of driving prevention, these data are rarely linked to understand the direct risk of food safety violations on the occurrence of foodborne illness. We describe the evidence linking routine restaurant inspections to the occurrence of foodborne illness, challenges in linking data, and highlight the potential benefits of linking restaurant inspection data as a novel framework for reducing the occurrence of foodborne illness.

  PublisherDOI

• CDC Directed Funding Improves Foodborne Outbreak Reporting in U.S. States, 2009–2022

  Journal of Food Protection · 2025-07-17 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Through Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) cooperative agreements, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has funded three programs focused on enhancing foodborne illness outbreak detection and response at the state level-the Foodborne Diseases Centers for Outbreak Response Enhancement (FoodCORE), the Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence (Food Safety CoE), and OutbreakNet Enhanced (OBNE). Data from the CDC's Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS) were used to assess the effect of ELC-funded foodborne programs on single-state foodborne illness outbreak reporting from 2009 to 2022. Based on 2022 program status, participation in these programs was associated with higher rates of reporting compared to states not enrolled in any ELC programs. Average foodborne outbreak reporting rates per million population were 1.54 for states enrolled in No Programs, 2.40 for OBNE states, 3.75 for FoodCORE states, and 4.16 for Food Safety CoE states. For Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and Listeria (SSL) outbreaks, average reporting rates per million population were 0.37 for states enrolled in No Programs, 0.46 for OBNE states, and 0.69 for FoodCORE and 0.67 for Food Safety CoE states. Overall ELC funding was associated with increased outbreak reporting rates. A one-dollar increase in average ELC funding was associated with an estimated 0.88 (95% CI 0.69, 1.07) unit increase in the single-state foodborne outbreak reporting rate and an estimated 0.14 (95% CI 0.09, 0.19) unit increase in the SSL outbreak reporting rate. Federal support for public health surveillance improves the detection and reporting of foodborne illness.

  PublisherDOI

• Factors Influencing Foodborne Illness Self-Identification From User-Generated Data – Minnesota, 2024

  Journal of Food Protection · 2025-09-02

  articleOpen access

  Foodborne illness outbreaks are a serious public health concern; faster identification enables the implementation of control measures to prevent others from becoming ill. User-generated data and artificial intelligence can be used to develop outbreak signals that could be disclosed to the public before they are associated with an actual outbreak of foodborne illness. We employed a vignette-based discrete choice experiment survey to examine when and why individuals would self-identify as ill during a publicized foodborne illness outbreak. Scenarios presented to participants included four attributes describing the event which were publicized in the headlines: the number of people (i.e., 20, 200, 8,500) stated as ill; symptoms (i.e., nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) included or excluded; a statement that FDA is investigating included or excluded; and a call to action asking readers to report their symptoms included or excluded. The research found that people will self-identify from a publicized foodborne illness event, with a positive association for all attributes. The odds of self-identifying as ill from a publicized foodborne illness event more than doubled when the number of people publicized as ill is 8,500 (OR = 2.42, CI [2.16, 2.71], p < 0.001) or symptoms (OR = 2.21, CI [2.02, 2.42], p < 0.001) are included. This study highlights factors that influence a person to self-identify as ill from a publicized foodborne illness event, regardless of whether an actual outbreak exists, demonstrating a limitation of novel data streams in detecting foodborne illness outbreaks in the absence of public health authority confirmation.

  PublisherDOI

• Identifying Characteristics of Local Governmental Environmental Public Health Programs

  Journal of environmental health · 2025-07-01

  articleOpen access

  Environmental public health (EPH) operates at the intersection of the environment and human health. The purpose of our project was to determine the factors that governmental EPH professionals consider when making decisions about their programs and workforce, including matters of structure, staffing, and funding for local EPH departments. A survey informed by focus groups and interviews was administered to EPH professionals that showed a high proportion of respondents (76%) work in food safety or food protection programs, and at least 50% of respondents reported they spent time on duties in four other programs. Regarding the duties performed in the other EPH programs, the survey showed that 66% of staff and 73% of managers considered performing 3–4 inspections per field day to be somewhat or extremely reasonable. Across all programs—except emergency preparedness—there was general agreement among staff and managers that a bachelor’s degree in a field of science should be the minimum education necessary for staff. More than 50% of respondents recommended either state or national registration as a minimum requirement for the seven core programs. The dynamic nature of the EPH profession is demonstrated by the range of program activities that EPH professionals conduct on both a seasonal and year-round basis. The combination of a bachelor’s degree and a credential could allow for flexibility in performing duties of multiple programs and allow for transferability of skills between EPH departments. There are important commonalities across EPH programs that provide a basis for guidelines that can be widely accepted and scalable to the size and setting of EPH departments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Recurring bacterial strains, subclusters, and the importance of practising lessons learned

  Epidemiology and Infection · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Minnesota Public Health Corps: A New Model For Building The Governmental Public Health Workforce

  Health Affairs · 2024-06-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  Governmental public health agencies in the US are understaffed, and ongoing shortages will have a detrimental effect on their ability to provide basic public health services and protections. Public Health AmeriCorps was established in 2022 to support efforts to create a stronger and more diverse public health workforce nationwide. The Minnesota Public Health Corps, one of the largest Public Health AmeriCorps models, is a capacity-building program that places AmeriCorps members directly into governmental public health settings across the state. We used data from the first year of the Minnesota Public Health Corps (2022-23) to describe the experiences of thirty-five sites participating in the program. We also examined preliminary findings about how it shaped AmeriCorps members' skills and prospects related to career development in public health. Corps members were younger and more diverse than the current public health workforce in Minnesota, and the majority said that they intended to pursue a public health career. Host sites reported improved capacity to deliver public health services and indicated that corps members helped them reach new populations. Our evaluation demonstrates that this statewide program may be a scalable model to address parts of the acute capacity gaps at public health agencies, as well as long-term efforts to revitalize the workforce.

  PublisherDOI

• Developing a risk management framework to improve public health outcomes by enumerating and serotyping <i>Salmonella</i> in ground turkey

  Epidemiology and Infection · 2024-01-08 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  = 2) using 25-g and 325-g sample sizes for a 95% probability of rejecting a contaminated lot. Removal of positive lots with the presence of highly virulent serotypes would decrease the number of illnesses by 44.2-87.0%. Based on these model prediction results, risk management strategies should incorporate pathogen enumeration and/or serotyping. This would have a direct impact on illness incidence linking public health outcomes with measurable food safety objectives, at the cost of diverting production lots.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Farm animal exposure setting impacts hemolytic uremic syndrome risk among Shiga toxin-producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> cases: Minnesota, 2010–2019

  Epidemiology and Infection · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) transmission occurs in ruminant contact settings and can lead to post-diarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). We investigated whether exposure setting (ruminant exposure from living or working on a farm, visiting a farm or animal contact venue, or both) influenced HUS development among individuals with laboratory-confirmed STEC infections using Minnesota surveillance data from 2010 to 2019. Logistic regression was performed to determine whether exposure setting was associated with HUS independent of age, gender, stx2 gene detection, and county ruminants per capita. Among confirmed STEC cases, ruminant exposure only from living or working on a farm was not significantly associated with HUS compared to cases without any ruminant exposure (OR: 1.25; 95% CI: 0.51, 3.04). However, ruminant exposure only from visiting a farm or public animal contact venue was associated with HUS (OR: 2.53; 95% CI: 1.50, 4.24). Exposure from both settings was also associated with HUS (OR: 3.71; 95% CI: 1.39, 9.90). Exposure to ruminants when visiting farms or animal contact venues is an important predictor of HUS, even among people who live or work on farms with ruminants. All people, regardless of routine ruminant exposure, should take care in settings with ruminants to avoid infection with STEC.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unexplained Illnesses Associated With a Subscription Meal Service, 2022

  Journal of Food Protection · 2024-11-21

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  In recent years, shifting consumer demands have led to changes in the types of foods produced and how consumers obtain them. A growing demand for non-meat-based proteins has led to the development of new plant-based protein products. Simultaneously, there has been an increase in subscription-based meal services. In 2022, a subscription-based meal service, Daily Harvest, launched a new plant-based protein line of products called Crumbles. Shortly, thereafter, consumer complaints of gastrointestinal symptoms were heard, and Daily Harvest recalled the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles, which contained a unique ingredient, tara flour. We obtained case data from the Marler Clark law firm and conducted an epidemiologic investigation of the relationship between illness and consumption of food products distributed by Daily Harvest. We independently reviewed data on 338 people, including 264 people with supplemental food exposure information, and calculated minimal attack rates. Of 264 people who completed the supplemental survey, all (100%) consumed the Lentil and Leek Crumbles. Minimal attack rates were highest for the Lentil and Leek Crumbles (1.4%) followed by the Walnut and Thyme Crumbles (0.45%). Among 213 subscribers, the minimal attack rate was highest for those who purchased three or more units of Lentil and Leek Crumbles (3.72%) compared to those who purchased two units (2.28%) or one unit (1.50%). The strength of the association and the increased risk of illness among persons who consumed Lentil and Leek Crumbles, but not other products that shared ingredients (other than tara flour) with Lentil and Leek Crumbles, suggests that tara flour was likely the source of illness, although a specific etiology remains unknown. This study highlights the value of using nontraditional data to identify sources of illness. Further research is needed to understand the safety of tara flour for human consumption.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kirk Smith

  Minnesota Department of Health

  30 shared

• Norman Noah

  London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

  26 shared

• Michael T. Osterholm

  University of Minnesota

  24 shared

• Jeff B. Bender

  University of Minnesota

  24 shared

• Zuber D. Mulla

  Texas Tech University

  22 shared

• Robert V. Tauxe

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  19 shared

• Sara M. Rankin

  Imperial College London

  18 shared

• R Salmon

  North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

  17 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Environmental Health

  University of Minnesota

  1989

• M.S., Environmental Health

  University of Minnesota

  1986

• B.S., Environmental Health

  University of Minnesota

  1984

Awards & honors

• Frozen Food Foundation’s Freezing Research Award, 2023
• President’s Recognition Award, International Association for…
• Public Health is Where You Are, LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH HERO AWA…
• Ewen C.D. Todd Control of Foodborne Illness Award, Internati…
• Excellence in Advising Award, University of Minnesota School…