The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Food Safety and Consumer Services (FS&CS) Laboratory Program is the State?s Primary Regulatory Human and Animal Food Safety Laboratory. The Laboratory has worked very closely with FDA and other federal partners in the past decades on several cooperative agreements, for instance, FDA FERN MCAP, ISO, MFRPS, AFRPS, BSE, RRT, Produce Safety, and USDA MDP. As an ISO17025 accredited laboratory, we?ve had a quality management system in place since 2011 with a dedicated quality assurance staff and procedures in place to assure good laboratory practices. We have laboratory facilities to assure the proper environment for advanced instrumentation in addition to secure sample custody and laboratory space. The FS&CS Laboratory Program is willing and able to participate in the following 7 project areas: (1) Discipline A Microbiology Track 2: Human Food Product Testing (High-500 Samples) (2) Discipline A Microbiology Track 3: Animal Food Product Testing (High-500 Samples) (3) Discipline A Microbiology Track 4: Whole Genome Sequencing (Low-100 Samples) (4) Discipline A Microbiology Track 5: Capability/Capacity Development-Cyclospora (5) Discipline D Special Project Track 1: Sample Collection (High-1000 Samples) (6) Discipline D Special Project Track 2: NFSDX and ORAPP Integration (7) Discipline D Special Project Track 2: Method Development and Validation The Laboratory Program is located in a strategic geographic area of the United States. Washington State is home to several major international shipping ports, through which nearly $16 billion in food and agricultural products were exported in 2018. The Port of Seattle, the state?s largest city and port, is the gateway port for all Asian and Canadian trade. The FS&CS Laboratory is eager to be one of the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model funded laboratories. The Laboratory is committed to working with the state regulatory Food Safety and Animal Feed Programs in taking innovative steps toward a fully integrated human and animal feed safety system. We also continue to be very appreciative of our federal grantor?s support in this endeavor and look forward to our collaborative work in the future. Washington State Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Consumer Services Laboratory
PAR-20-105: Overall Component Project Narrative The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Food Safety & Consumer Services (FS&CS) Laboratory has a history of demonstrated success as an awarded CAP member for FERN, MFRPS ISO, AFRPS, BSE, RRT, Produce Safety, USDA-MDP, beginning in 2000 to the present. As a CAP member, the laboratory actively participates in all activities associated with the Cooperative Agreements: sample collection, testing, proficiency testing, training seminars, conferences, face-to- face annual meetings, IT integration and method validation assignments. As an ISO17025:2005-2017 accredited laboratory, we?ve had a quality management system in place since 2011 with a dedicated quality assurance staff and procedures in place to assure good laboratory practices. We have laboratory facilities to assure the proper environment for advanced instrumentation in addition to secure sample custody and laboratory space. As a current FDA FERN, ISO and AFRPS cooperative agreement-funded laboratory, the laboratory is applying for five years of funding through the FDA Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) Cooperative Agreement Program?s Discipline A Microbiology Track 2, 3, 4 and 5 and Discipline D Special Project Track 1, 2, 3 in order to enhance the capacity and capabilities of the laboratory in support of an integrated food safety system. The laboratory will participate in: 1. The use of various standardized cultural, biochemical and molecular analytical methods for the detection and identification of foodborne pathogens in human and animal food (Discipline A Microbiology Track 2 and 3). The laboratory will participate in human and animal food sample analysis for surveillance assignments, food emergency outbreak testing, and ensure large-scale food emergency event surge capacity by using various standardized cultural and biochemical analytical methods for the detection and identification of pathogens. The WSDA FS&CS Laboratory has trained staff and equipment to perform testing of pathogens as well as serological analysis for Listeria monocytogenes (Poly O, Type 1 and Type 4), Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157 and H7), and E. coli STEC Big Six (all six O types). 2. Sequence using Whole Genome Sequencing for at least 100 isolates of pathogens. The laboratory has the training and equipment to sequence and will upload sequences into GenomeTrakr (Discipline A Track 4). 3. Gaining capacity for Cyclospora testing (Discipline A Track 5). The laboratory needs to gain capacity by request of our food safety partners and to be a supportive member of the integrated national laboratory system. The laboratory has worked hard to find funding to support Cyclospora testing and was able to secure very small funding support to send its microbiologists for a week long training at FDA Bothell in FDA BAM 19b Molecular Detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in Fresh Produce using Real-Time PCR method. We have some equipment to support the test but we must purchase several more pieces, therefore we require support. 4. The collection of samples (>1,000) (Discipline D Track 1). For decades, we have utilized annual sampling agreements with our regulatory inspection partners. Our laboratory?s self- sample collection history dates back to 2001 as a member of the USDA AMS Microbiological Data Program (MDP) and for regulatory purposes. Training provided by USDA included aseptic sampling technique, preserving sample integrity during transit, and maintaining complete chain of custody documentation. Our sampling experience has only grown stronger as a FDA FERN MCAP participant. For instance we collected over 3,600 samples in the last 2 years for testing by our FERN lab. 5. The integration of NFSDX-ORAPP systems with our data collection systems. We worked closely with FDA for integrating our system to eLEXNET, so we desire to work on this new integration. (Discipline D Track 2) 6. The Validation of a qPCR screening method for Salmonella in Foods (Discipline D Track 3). We have decades of history validating methods under the USDA MDP, FERN MCAP, private test manufacturers, as well as our own ?Fit for Purpose? methods. Washington State Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Consumer Services Laboratory
