Achieving Conformance with FDA Standards 2 & 4

Pima County Health DepartmentRFA-FD-20-012Achieving Conformance with FDA Standards 2 & 4The Pima County Health Department Consumer Health and Food Safety Division (CHFS or theDivision) requests $65,191.91 to achieve full conformance with Standard 2 and Standard 4 of theFood and Drug Administration's Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards(FDA VNRFRPS). CHFS has been enrolled in the VNRFRPS since 2015.An award will ensure all staff, a total of twenty two (22) employees, complete fieldstandardization and can serve as effective Food Safety Inspection Officers (FSIO). Fieldstandardization ensures retail food businesses are subject to the same standards of scrutiny,protecting public health and reducing the incidence of illnesses connected with unsafe food-handling practices. The CHFS program currently has only one individual certified by the ArizonaDepartment of Health Services as a Standardized FSIO, limiting the amount of training andStandardizing inspections that can be conducted for the Division.In order to reach full conformance with Standard 2: Trained Regulatory Staff, and Standard 4:Uniform Inspection Program, the Division will accomplish the following project objectives: 1)Initiate standardization of the CHFS Training Team with Arizona Department of HealthServices; 2) Standardize Environmental Health Specialists as outlined in Standard 2 Step 4: FoodSafety Inspection Officer - Field Standardization; 3) complete pre- and post-courses featured inthe FDA's curriculum for Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers; 4) Send staff to environmentalhealth conferences to gain experience and build relationships with other local health departmentsadvancing conformance with retail food regulation standards; and 5) Provide adequate time forEnvironmental Health Specialists and Environmental Health Supervisors to complete routineinspections and assessments in order to demonstrate program effectiveness.Completing these project objectives will allow the Division to achieve full conformance withStandards 2 and 4, which will in turn reduce contributing risk factors associated with foodborneillness. Success of this program will be indicated by the number of staff certified as standardizedFSIOs, the number of staff who attend national conferences or FDA trainings, the number ofuniform inspections completed, and the number pre- and post-course hours completed by staff.