Continuing to Support and Enhance an Integrated Food Safety System Through Implementation of Program Standards, Data Sharing, Collaboration, and State Training and Equipment Grants. - AFDO 2024 Alliance to Support the Activities of the Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS), including the Grade A Milk Safety and National Shellfish Sanitation Programs Application: Project Summary The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) will direct and implement the activities under this cooperative agreement which will facilitate FDA’s implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), help increase mutual reliance between agencies, help develop a nationally Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS), and strengthen manufactured food, Grade A Milk and shellfish sanitation programs, thereby improving public health protection of the food supply. AFDO has been representing state regulatory food programs since 1896. The Principal Investigator and project staff assigned to this project include former state food program managers that have extensive experience developing state food safety programs, implementing programmatic change to achieve conformance with the requirements of the MFRPS, and collaborating with FDA to achieve a national IFSS. Major activities conducted under this cooperative agreement include but are not limited to: • Providing oversight and support to the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Alliance (MFRPA) to support state continuous improvement in the implementation of the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS); • In collaboration with a joint advisory group, providing subaward funding for training and equipment to state and territorial Grade A Milk and Molluscan Shellfish regulatory programs; • Conducting research and surveys on the capabilities of state manufactured food programs; • Researching and developing mechanisms to enhance data sharing; • Maintaining and enhancing the secure online MFRPA Portal for sharing information and data related to best practices, guidance documents, procedures, and other critical tools; • Maintaining and enhancing directories for subject matter experts, food process authorities, and directories of state and local regulatory officials, to improve interagency communication and provide access to key contacts necessary for inter-agency collaboration in an IFSS; • Collaborating to develop, deliver, and support state attendance at food safety and defense training programs, including annual meetings for the MFRPA and Rapid Response Teams (RRT), as well as web-based and face-to-face training courses designed to increase core regulatory and scientific knowledge; and • Researching methods to further promote food safety related regulatory careers with colleges and universities and developing opportunities for experiential learning.
