The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) proposes to collaborate with national food safety training partners to establish a coordinated effort for expansion and development of the Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) National Curriculum Standard (NCS), including continued development of manufactured food (including Animal Feed, Dairy Processing, Game, Meat and Poultry, Manufactured Food, and Shellfish) competency and curriculum frameworks, further development and validation of manufactured food competency statements, and updates to and development of manufactured food training courses to meet the needs of manufactured food regulatory agencies, which is required for a successful, national IFSS. The end goal of this proposed project is to significantly increase training opportunities for manufactured food regulatory agencies, leading to long term improvements in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of regulators as part of an IFSS. AFDO will recruit manufactured food subject matter experts (SMEs) to create a pool of qualified instructors who can assist in the development of the manufactured food curriculum, frameworks, competencies, and courses. AFDO will also assist with the development of train the trainer systems to assure that all SMEs who will deliver United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) manufactured food courses will first complete instructor skills training (ISTs) and demonstrate their training capabilities through the satisfactory completion of course specific instructor training (CSIT) or an audit assessment conducted during the pilot testing of training courses or programs developed. Achieving all project objectives will require extensive cooperation and coordination between training partners. AFDO will build upon its existing broad network of resources, including its community of federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal entities built over more than 120 years of the association?s existence and experience. The outcomes of this project will be the advancement of a national IFSS through the establishment of a well-coordinated NCS, an increase in the number of quality manufactured food courses available to regulators, and an increase in the number and quality of trained and vetted SME trainers.
AFDO Application for RFA-FD-16-042 - PROJECT NARRATVE AFDO?s National Curriculum Standard Development for Integrated Food Safety System Regulators proposal is intended to facilitate long term improvements to the national food safety system through the establishment of a coordinated effort focused on manufactured food training (including Animal Feed, Dairy Processing, Game, Meat and Poultry, Manufactured Food, and Shellfish) for government regulatory officials. Efforts will include continued development of the Integrated Food Safety System National Curriculum Standard competency and curriculum frameworks, further development and validation of manufactured food competency statements, development of new manufactured food training courses identified in the national curriculum framework, and increased number of trained and vetted subject matter expert trainers. By contributing to the development of a well-coordinated National Curriculum Framework and training system, AFDO will significantly advance a national Integrated Food Safety System and effectively fulfill the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Ultimately, the safety, security, and defense of the United States food supply will improve.
