The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Division ofFederal-State Relations (DFSR), in collaboration with the Center for Food Safety and AppliedNutrition (CFSAN) and the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), is announcing the availabilityof up to six cooperative agreements to be awarded under a Limited Competition. Only Stateswith current FDA food safety inspection contracts (providing funding to State agency foodprotection regulatory programs) and who are currently receiving funding under those contractsare eligible to apply for these competing continuation awards. The FDA only guarantees oneyear of funding with the possibility of up to one year of additional, non-competitive support,contingent on performance and continued availability of federal funds.As a recipient of funding under RFA-FD-08-007, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture(MDA) is eligible to apply for this Cooperative Agreement. The funding provided under theprevious Cooperative Agreement has been used to develop significant response capacityrelated to foodborne illness outbreaks and other food safety events and has also been used todevelop a detailed Improvement Plan for the 2010 version of the FDA Manufactured FoodRegulatory Program Standards (MFRPS).Continuation of this funding will allow MDA to continue the efforts and initiatives started in 2008through 2013. During the next two year funding period, the MDA Rapid Response Team willwork on a number of objectives and deliverables described in the Research Strategy includingbut not limited to; a yearly Incident Command System (ICS) focused exercise with the FDAMinneapolis District Office and other surrounding states and government agencies, fullcompliance with MFRPS Standard 5 and significant compliance with the other standards, testingand providing feedback on at least three RRT 'Playbook' chapters, regular outreach activitiesbetween MDA and the manufactured food industry, a Risk Assessment of high-risk foods orprocesses, and effective cross-training from RRT to non-RRT staff to build capacity andsustainability.
Funding provided through this Cooperative Agreement will allow the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to build on work and accomplishments from the first project period. This Agreement will ensure the development of a sustainable Rapid Response Team (RRT) that consists of existing and expanded membership through training to enhance existing response capabilities, and exercises to practice and then enhance capabilities. During this project period, we will conduct a risk analysis on a known high risk foods or processes, and enhance current laboratory capabilities for Cryptosporidium analysis. The RRT will continue to implement the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards to enhance response capabilities and standardize manufactured food regulatory inspections. Continued funding will allow the RRT to provide valuable input at a national level as the National RRT Playbook and other Standard Operating Procedures are developed in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration.
| Miller, Benjamin D; Rigdon, Carrie E; Robinson, Trisha J et al. (2013) Use of global trade item numbers in the investigation of a salmonella newport outbreak associated with blueberries in Minnesota, 2010. J Food Prot 76:762-9 |
