Grant Proposal Abstract Title: Building the Capacity of Food Safety Entities to Protect Public Health in Response to a Notification under Section 1008 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of a Recall of Foods (U18) Funding Opportunity Announcement Number (FOA): RFA-FD-12-026 CDC epi curves reveal that many times illnesses continue after recalls, and recall effectiveness checks have shown that unsafe foods are often not removed from commerce. The Rhode Island Department of Health Office of Food Protection will work with FDA to rapidly remove hazardous food products from commerce and improve recall effectiveness. As Chair of the Industry Workgroup for the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR), Ernest Julian, Ph.D., the Principal Investigator, has already been involved in investigating why recalls are often not effective, and what can be done to improve effectiveness in order to reduce foodborne illnesses. Recall effectiveness checks will add to CIFOR findings in determining the root cause of why unsafe products remain in distribution. The Office of Food Protection will also work with the food industry to assure compliance with Food Safety Modernization Act minimum standards for recalls, promote development of recall plans, and promote best practices. A coordinated approach will be used with FDA to rapidly and effectively remove unsafe foods from commerce. Current technology will be used to improve industry notification of recalls. The Office of Food Protection will also work with retail chains with Shopper/loyalty cards to set up systems to identify consumers who purchased unsafe products and directly notify them through the use of text messaging, emails, automatic phone dialing, and other direct notification techniques. Dr. Julian also serves on the CIFOR Metrics Committee and the FDA Integration Task Force and the strategies used here will be shared so they can be duplicated nationally to improve recall effectiveness and reduce foodborne illnesses.
The Rhode Island Department of Health Office of Food Protection will work with FDA to remove hazardous food products from commerce and improve recall effectiveness. The root cause of why unsafe products remain in distribution will be determined and the Office of Food Protection will work with FDA and the food industry to assure compliance with minimum standards and promote best practices. The Office of Food Protection will also work with retail chains with shopper/loyalty cards to set up systems to identify consumers who purchased unsafe foods and directly notify them through the use of text messaging, emails, automatic phone dialing, and other direct notification techniques. Strategies will be shared so they can be duplicated nationally.
