Mecklenburg County Health Department in North Carolina Awarded 2026 Samuel J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award

WASHINGTON — The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) announced Mecklenburg County Health Departmentas the recipient of the 2026 Samuel J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award for Excellence in Food Protection at the Local Level. This prestigious award is given to a local environmental health jurisdiction that demonstrates unsurpassed achievement in providing outstanding food protection services to their communities.

The award jury highlighted key food safety efforts by Mecklenburg County Environmental Health (MCEH), including:

• Sustained commitment to achieving conformance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards. MCEH made enormous strides in conformance since enrolling in the FDA Retail Program Standards in 2010, strengthening the County's ability to reduce foodborne illness by identifying the highest-risk behaviors at food safety establishments which led to targeted, evidence-based public health interventions. Mecklenburg County was one of the leading jurisdictions in North Carolina to support statewide FDA Food Code adoption efforts.
• Excellent evaluation using statistics and graphs quantifying food safety impact. MCEH's compelling metrics demonstrate the significance of its food safety program evaluations process, enriched by a suite of testimonials from stakeholders who have directly benefited from MCEH's program improvements over the years.
• Innovative and impressive use of PowerBI to track and maintain conformance to FDA Retail Program Standard 2 - Trained Regulatory Staff. A customized PowerBI dashboard helps MCEH streamline and analyze trends, allowing management to identify field staff to be trained with the aim of demonstrating consistency during inspections at food service establishments.
• Demonstrated leadership statewide and nationally, including having systems that could be adopted by others. As one of North Carolina's earliest training sites for sanitarians, Mecklenburg County helped shape the model that has evolved into a statewide Centralized Intern Training program. For decades, MCEH has continued to influence training by strengthening consistency, supporting peer jurisdictions and contributing to the overall quality of environmental health practice across North Carolina.

"We are honored to receive the 2026 Crumbine Award for excellence in local food protection," said Chrystal Swinger, MCEH's director. "We are proud and grateful for our dedicated team of environmental health specialists who work every day to protect and promote food safety in one of the fastest growing regions in the country. From supporting large-scale events like the PGA Championship and other professional sporting events, to keeping up with a rapidly rising local food truck industry, our team truly exemplifies the highest standards in food protection. Thanks to NACCHO for this honor, and we look forward to continued collaboration and partnership."

Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO's CEO, said MCEH has demonstrated exemplary leadership in advancing food safety practices that help prevent foodborne illness.

"Mecklenburg County officials model sustainable food safety compliance, and their successes are visibly strengthening food safety systems in other places as their practices become replicable, effectively contributing to healthy communities across the country," she said.

Named for one of America's most renowned health officers and health educators, Samuel J. Crumbine, MD (1862-1954), the award encourages innovative programs and methods that reduce or eliminate the occurrence of foodborne illnesses, recognizes the importance of food protection at the local level and stimulates public interest in food service sanitation.

In addition to NACCHO, the Crumbine Award is supported by the Conference for Food Protection, in cooperation with the American Academy of Sanitarians, American Public Health Association, Association of Food and Drug Officials, Food Marketing Institute, Foodservice Packaging Institute, International Association for Food Protection, National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), National Restaurant Association and UL Solutions LLC.

The Crumbine Award will be presented live at NEHA's Annual Educational Conference, August 3-6, in Kansas City, Mo.