Serious foodborne illness resulting from contaminated food is a persistent and largely preventable public health problem that receives national attention every year. Dramatic advances in technology have placed large-scale systematic food surveillance testing on the verge of transforming national strategy from outbreak management to informed prevention. Realizing this revolutionary milestone depends on implementing and integrating sensitive, precise, and high-throughput scientific methods, sophisticated instrumentation, and unprecedented information connectivity. The overarching aim of this proposal is to contribute a comprehensive and integrated food protection laboratory hub from the state of Maryland that is capable of analyzing food across many diverse threat priorities to the national Food Emergency Response Network. Extensive food testing capabilities across microbiology, chemistry, and radiochemistry disciplines are all housed within a single and unified Division of Environmental Sciences of the MDH Laboratories Administration. The current 14-track multifaceted proposal seeks to integrate and strengthen the Laboratory?s ISO/IEC 17025:2017-accredited methods, cutting-edge instrumentation, and expanded food surveillance testing activities across all disciplines with the goal of protecting the nation?s food supply. Moreover, with a steadfast commitment to constant improvement, the Laboratory further strives to implement the newest testing methods, expand capacity of key capabilities, and participate in developmental activities with state and national partners. Finally, the proposal places a high priority on offering young scientists opportunities to join public health service. The outcome of this extensive and integrated plan should provide meaningful large-scale surveillance data to regulatory partners, and define underlying food safety vulnerabilities to inform national protective strategies of the future.
Of the 48 million Americans who suffer ~250 different kinds of foodborne illness each year, nearly 128,000 will need hospitalization and 3,000 will ultimately die from these entirely preventable diseases. Technological advances now promise to make large-scale food testing for key threats feasible, thereby intercepting dangerous foods before they enter households, and streamlining food protection strategies of the future. The Maryland public health laboratory has made major investments in its infrastructure over the past ~5 years, and now offers these extensive and proven capabilities to large-scale, multidisciplinary food protection through this cooperative agreement.
