The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Lodging Program (KDA-FSL) promotes food safety by establishing food protection standards, investigating complaints, educating food businesses and consumers, and licensing and inspecting food businesses. KDA-FSL will use funding from the Flexible Funding Model Cooperative Agreement (FFM) to further improve and maintain the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS), develop and maintain a Rapid Response Team (RRT), increase integration of food and feed defense and safety activities through the Kansas Food Protection Task Force (KS-FPTF); enhance MFRPS-related sampling programs; and enhance our partnership with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by creating an inspection data exchange. KDA-FSL has been enrolled in MFRPS since 2008. Continuing this cooperative agreement will allow our program to strive for full conformance of the 2016 MFRPS. With continued funding and support KDA-FSL will further enhance our policies and procedures, utilize data sharing to help do our part in creating an integrated food safety system, and further the education of our inspection staff through FDA trainings. The Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) will work collaboratively with the FDA to develop and implement a RRT for large scale food and feed emergencies. The Kansas RRT will have the combined expertise and resources of multiple agencies leading to a multidisciplinary approach that facilitates a coordinated, efficient, and effective response. The RRT cooperative agreement will allow the development of intra and interagency plans that can be sustained long term. The mission of the Kansas RRT will be to effectively respond to foodborne illness outbreaks and identify potential preventative practices to protect the food supply and consumer health both nationally and globally as a part of an Integrated Food Safety System. The KS-FPTF will organize yearly meetings and produce a quarterly newsletter to target hard-to-reach stakeholders, foster communication, cooperation and collaboration within the state. The KS-FPTF will collaborate with other states? Food Protection Task Forces and share any innovative outcomes that are developed. The KS-FPTF will work to advance processes that will facilitate the investigation, prevention, and control of foodborne disease outbreaks. Utilizing a special project tied to the MFRPS, KDA-FSL will (1) enhance our sampling program by creating a recorded sampling training workshop, collecting additional samples to reinforce this training, and conducting a validation study to ensure effective procedures are in place; and (2) create a data sharing system with the FDA for inspections. These projects will allow us to continue improving our program and will help KDA-FSL continue to do its part towards creating a national, fully integrated food safety system.
By enrolling in the Flexible Funding Model (FFM) Cooperative Agreement, the Kansas Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Lodging Program (KDA-FSL) will enhance its ability to continue its progress in program improvements. Specifically, KDA-FSL will be better positioned to maintain full conformance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS); enhance its MFRPS-related processes and procedures; develop a Rapid Response Team to improve response activities in Kansas and regionally; increase integration of food and feed defense and safety activities through the Kansas Food Protection Task Force; enhance MFRPS-related sampling programs; and enhance our partnership with the FDA by creating an inspection data exchange. Enrollment in the FFM will allow KDA-FSL to continuing working towards the reduction of foodborne illness from food manufactured or sold in Kansas and nationally.
