Retail Food Safety Regulation Association Collaboration (U18) [Clinical Trial Not Allowed] - Project Summary/Abstract The National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) comprises of nearly 3,000 local health departments (LHDs) across the United States. NACCHO strives to protect and improve the health of all Americans by assisting and engaging LHDs in promoting national public health policy, developing resources and programs, seeking health equity, and supporting effective local public health practice and systems. An integral piece of this mission is devoted to food safety, achieved through NACCHO's promotion around the role of LHDs in food safety regulation and contributing toward an integrated food safety system, in collaboration with federal and partner agencies. NACCHO's proposal will be accomplished by collaborating with the Conference for Food Protection (CFP) and coordinating with the Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaborative (Collaborative). The Collaborative members have submitted a coordinated set of funding applications, including constant ongoing coordination between the associations across the proposed projects. NACCHO's and CFP's proposed three-year initiative lays out the six aims of the Collaborative to advance state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) retail food protection programs and reduce foodborne illness. These include the following aims led by NACCHO and CFP: (1) improve the approach, competency, and food safety culture in the regulatory community; (3) increase enrollment, engagement, and conformance in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Program Standards); and (4) increase the number of establishments that have well-developed and implemented Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS). The aims will be achieved through Collaborative workgroup efforts, environmental scans, key informant interviews, focus groups, establishing a Retail Food Alliance, quantitative and qualitative research methods, educational curriculum/training development, and utilizing communication channels to communicate the Collaborative's joint messages and resources. The Retail Food Safety Advisory Group (SLTT program representatives from diverse geographical locations and jurisdictional sizes) and Collaborative will inform the three-year initiative to provide direction and feedback on project activities. Under the guidance of these groups and FDA, NACCHO, and CFP will develop tools and resources essential for SLTTs to improve retail food safety programs and reduce foodborne illness. The plan will also allow NACCHO and CFP to share strategies on successful adoption of the latest Food Code editions, implementation of effective intervention strategies, application of effective risk-based inspection methods, conformance to the Program Standards, and other Collaborative efforts based on the endeavors of innovative leaders engaged through this initiative.
