Five Organizations Join Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

CHICAGO – The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness announced five major additions to its roster of industry members committed to advancing food safety culture. Amazon, Amerisan, the Meat Institute, Mérieux NutriSciences and Yum! Brands join the collaborative effort to prevent foodborne illness and protect consumers.

"The Alliance represents an innovative approach to advancing food safety culture," says Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Alliance program director. "These new members bring highly diverse perspectives that will strengthen our collective impact. When industry leaders across the entire food supply chain work together, we can create lasting change that protects consumers from the serious impacts of foodborne illness."

Since its launch in 2018, the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness has grown from ten founding companies to 25 industry partners working collaboratively to advance food safety culture. The Alliance's model brings together industry leaders, consumers, academics and regulatory stakeholders who recognize that food safety is a shared responsibility.

The Alliance operates through active working groups that develop practical tools and resources, including a 40-part educational video series for diverse food safety audiences, modernization of consumer-centric recall communications, an FDA co-sponsored webinar series and the continually evolving award-winning Food Safety Culture Toolkit, which has been accessed by over 1,600 users serving more than 600 small enterprises to multinational companies across 97 countries, the Alliance said. 

In addition to the new members, legacy Alliance companies include the American Frozen Food Institute, Cargill, Conagra Brands, Consumer Brands Association, Costco Wholesale, Empirical Foods, The Hershey Company, International Dairy Foods Association, JBS, Kellanova, WK Kellogg Co., Maple Leaf Foods, Mars, the National Restaurant Association, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Treehouse Foods, Walmart, Wawa and Wegmans.

An estimated 48 million Americans experience a foodborne illness annually. Of these, 128,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 die each year, according to the Alliance. For more than 30 years, Stop Foodborne Illness, the nonprofit that houses the Alliance program, has worked to prevent illness and death from foodborne pathogens by amplifying advocate voices, supporting public policies that strengthen prevention and fostering industry practices that protect consumers.

"The Alliance continues expanding its reach and resources by engaging thought leaders across the food system," said Coffman. "I'm looking forward to what this powerhouse group will accomplish in 2026 and beyond. Bending the curve of foodborne illness is our ultimate goal, and with ever-strengthening food safety cultures across the industry, we have the best chance of doing that."