Grant Proposal Abstract Title: Conformance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) (U18). Funding Opportunity Announcement Number (FOA): RFA-FD-12-007 The RI Department of Health, Office of Food Protection proposes to develop and maintain a risk-based manufactured food regulatory program in RI in conformance with national standards. This program will be based on best practices, and, at the end of five years, will conform to the FDA Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS). Ultimately this will reduce the risk of foodborne disease in food manufacturing facilities in RI. A Compliance and Evaluation Officer in the Office of Food Protection will be responsible for managing the MFRPS under the direction of the Principal Investigator and ensure conformance with the ten elements of the national program standards, which include: the program's regulatory foundation, staff training, inspection, quality assurance, food defense preparedness and response, foodborne illness and incident investigation, enforcement, education and outreach, resource management, program assessment, and laboratory resources. The five year plan to meet all MFRPS includes yearly assessment and updates to the strategic plan based upon accomplishments, progress reports, development of required written procedures, continuous training, improvement of data management, implementation of all requirements for the ten standards, and compliance with FDA audits and development of internal auditing to assure continuous quality improvement and long term compliance with all standards. The RI DOH will also aim to enhance transparency with federal partners and make every effort to provide a foundation for optimal regulatory action when the State or FDA identifies problems. The State intends to support FDA's efforts and is confident that both the State and FDA will benefit from the partnership.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) estimates that 48 million people become ill from foodborne illnesses each year in the United States. Food recalls have become almost a daily occurrence. This grant response will reduce foodborne illnesses from manufactured foods produced in Rhode Island through conformance with all Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards within 5 years.
