This report details a study by the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) of food safety in public schools. The study examined: (1) the frequency and causes of reported food-borne illness outbreaks associated with the federal school-meal programs; and (2) the practices that federal, state, and local governments, as well as other food providers, find useful for safeguarding meals. The study found that 195, about 3 percent, of the total of 7,390 food-borne outbreaks reported nationwide between 1990 and 1999 occurred in schools. Specific national data on whether these outbreaks were related to the federal school-meal programs do not exist; however, a survey of state health officials provided information on 40 large outbreaks from improper food preparation and handling practices in school kitchens. The study also found that state, federal, and local governments, as well as other food providers, use a variety of practices to safeguard meals. GAO recommends that the Centers for Disease Control modify its food-borne-outbreak reporting mechanism to add federal school meals as an outbreak category. GAO also recommends the promotion of training and certification of food-service workers and the study of the advantages and disadvantages of donating precooked or irradiated foods. (WFA)