This project aims to advance efforts for a nationally integrated food safety system by providing support for the further development of a manufactured food program in Arizona that focuses on conformance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS). The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) will build on several key objectives initiated during its first year of funding, which included completing a self?assessment and complementary strategic improvement plan, entering into a contract for manufactured food inspections with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and beginning the process of updating Arizona?s rules and regulations to make them equivalent to the current Federal requirements for manufactured food. The project emphasizes the achievement of training goals to ensure ADHS and county regulatory program staff are well?trained to perform manufactured food inspections and to ensure the state has adequate staff between state and county regulatory programs to meet contract requirements for manufactured food inspections, particularly as the program grows. Proposed training opportunities include the Food Safety Preventative Controls Alliance training course, administered online, in order to give the state the opportunity to conduct human PC inspections. The project also provides for opportunities to meet with the local county health departments in person each year for the first four years of funding to discuss the developing state manufactured food program, the counties? roles within it, the availability of staff training, and the progress in adopting administrative rules related to manufactured foods. Then, in the final year of funding, the project provides an opportunity instead for the local county health departments to gather with ADHS at a statewide event to discuss, strategize and organize efforts around continued conformance with the MFRPS. ADHS also proposes to enhance its manufactured foods program with funds to enhance its existing Food Protection Task Force. The state currently organizes quarterly Food Protection Task Force meetings during which Task Force members give presentations on effective outbreak investigations or examples of effective coordination among a variety of stakeholders to protect food, discuss current local food protection issues, and other topics. However, participation is sometimes limited due to the distance many county partners would need to travel in order to attend in person, and industry does not participate. The funding will allow the state to host an annual tabletop exercise with funding to reimburse counties for sending representatives to ensure a high rate of participation despite the distance many would have to travel to attend the exercise and would extend activities to include a variety of stakeholders, including industry and academia. The tabletop will enable the Task Force to practice effective, coordinated food defense response. In addition, ADHS proposes to contract with outside expert speakers for the tabletop exercise and/or the quarterly meetings in order to enhance participants? knowledge of particular food and/or food defense subjects.
Through participation in the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards, ADHS will ensure that the manufactured food program it develops utilizes best practices for a high?quality regulatory program that furthers multiple ADHS goals, including enhancing food safety, implementing best practices, implementing performance measures, and practicing continuous quality improvement to protect public health and ensure a safe food supply.
