Enhancement of California's Human and Animal Food Testing Capacity and Capability and Food Emergency Response - Enhancement of California’s Human and Animal Food Testing Capacity, Capability, and Food Emergency Response The Center of Laboratory Sciences of California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Center for Laboratory Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Laboratories is submitting the following proposal for NOFO RFA-FD-25-007 LFFM under disciplines of Microbiology (A), Chemistry (B), and Radiochemistry (C). Projects under A and B will be performed by the Food and Drug Laboratory Branch (FDLB), and Project C1 will be performed by Radiochemistry Unit (RCU) of Drinking Water and Radiation Laboratory Branch (DWRLB). FDLB has been an FDA FERN laboratory since 2008 and is the recipient of the current LFFM grant under both A and B. FDLB has the capability and capacity to fulfill the goals of the referenced cooperative agreement program in terms of the experience and expertise of its trained staff, available facilities, established validated equipment, and its on-going participation in FERN training, surveillance, proficiency testing, and other cooperative agreement programs activities. FDLB is ISO 17025 certified for Microbiology and Chemistry, each with multiple methods under scope including FDA methods. FDLB is the primary testing laboratory for State food and drug regulatory agency which is enrolled in California’s Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards. The RCU/DWRLB is the only state government laboratory conducting radiological analyses of water, soil, air, biota, wipes and other environmental matrices. RCU/DWRLB is an active member of FERN and annually participates in its proficiency testing exercises, as well as in ERA and Department of Energy Mixed Analyte Performance Evaluation Program (MAPEP) for water, vegetation, air filter, and soil matrices. RCU/DWRLB is equipped with necessary resources: facilities, equipment, trained personnel, and Quality Assurance system (as evidenced by the successful PTs from multiple agencies uploaded with this application) to conduct work for the Radiochemistry food defense track. 1. Four projects in Chemistry (PI: Dr. Dadong Xu, Dadong.Xu@cdph.ca.gov): (1) Project B1, Human Food Product Testing (sample tier 250). (2) Project B3, Food Defense: We are proficient in all three FERN chemistry methods (CHE.0006, CHE.0008, and EAM 4.7) as well as FDLB- developed methods to carry out the tasks for this track. (3) Project B4, Method development and validation: We will participate in single and multi-laboratory validations proposed by FDA. (4) Project B5, Capacity / capability development. 2. Six Projects in Microbiology (PI: Dr. David Kiang, David.Kiang@cdph.ca.gov): (1) Project A1, Human Food Product Testing (sample tier 500). (2) Project A3, Animal Food Product Testing. (3) Project A4, Whole Genome Sequencing – Maintenance. (4) Project A6, Food Defense. (5) Project A7, Method development and validation. (6) Project A8, Capacity / capability development. 3. One Project in Radiochemistry (PI: Dr. Esala Chandrasena, Esala.Chandrasena@cdph.ca.gov): Project C1, Radiochemistry Food Defense: The lab is capable of detecting Alpha, Beta, and Gamma emitters in a variety of matrices including human and animal foods. Confidential - Low
