Conformance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) (U18)

<p>Summary/Abstract: The mission of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Food and Drug Branch (FDB), Food Safety Section (FSS) is to ensure the safety of the food supply through effective prevention, intervention and response programs. As a means of accomplishing this mission, FDB has developed strong inspection and enforcement programs, industry education and training programs and food emergency response programs. The primary objective of our proposal is to further develop, implement, and sustain California's best practices for a high-quality regulatory program to enhance food safety. This would entail the strengthening of interagency collaboration, cooperation, and communication; achievement and sustainment of compliance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS); development and implementation of Standard Enhancement Projects (SEPs); and enhancement of coordination and interactions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other states' food safety programs. Under this proposal we are requesting $300,000 in grant funds for each of the next five years. Grant funds will be used to augment current food safety program capabilities, and provide the necessary infrastructure to continue further development and sustainment of MFRPS. Two dedicated staff members will work on enhancing the program's ability to conduct high-quality inspections and investigations to reduce the incidence of food contamination and ultimately foodborne illness associated with products manufactured and distributed within California. This Request For Application (RFA) will enable FDB to further enhance its food regulatory program through additional training and development of staff to increase skills and expertise, initiation of standard enhancement projects, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of critical resources, increasing information sharing among federal, state and local agencies, improving succession planning and sustaining full conformance with MFRPS beyond this grant period. Inability to develop and sustain California's MFRPS would be detrimental to the State's Food Safety Program and would have national repercussions. California is the nation's largest producer of many important agricultural commodities including dairy, leafy greens, fruit, vegetable, and nut crops. A crisis impacting those commodities would negatively impact millions of consumers in California, the nation, and the world. This has been demonstrated by past national foodborne illness outbreaks that were traced back to California such as the 2006E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with spinach and lettuce that resulted in thousands of illnesses (when considering under-reporting). The economic impact of such food emergencies can cost hundreds of millions of dollars due to decreased demands for food commodities because of loss of consumer confidence in the food supply. Implementation of MFRPS within California gives the program the best opportunity to reduce the incidence of contaminated foods from entering the marketplace and prevent illnesses before they occur.</p>