Development and Implementation of A Replicable Standard Enhancement Project Which

AbstractThe Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Environmental Health, FoodProtection Program (BEH/FPP) intends to strengthen its core capacity of a public health-focused approach to food safety that prioritizes prevention, strengthens surveillance andenforcement, and improves intervention and response by increasing conformance withManufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) and demonstrating improvementin its regulatory foundation, inspector training program, inspection program (includingenhancement of electronic capacity), inspection audits, foodborne illness outbreaks andresponse, compliance and enforcement programs, industry and community relations, programresources, program assessment and laboratory support related to manufactured foods.Conformance with MFRPS will support the ability of the Massachusetts Rapid Response Team(RRT) to rapidly and effectively address foodborne illness outbreaks and will promote thecontinued growth and longer-term sustainability of the food safety program. BEH/FPP will seekto further enhance its capacity by developing and implementing four different StandardEnhancement Projects (SEPs.) SEP #1 will develop and test an algorithm to prioritize facilityinspections by risk-category, SEP #2 will develop industry-specific facility inspection forms andprotocols to address unique risk factors, SEP #3 will develop and test an algorithm to trackcritical violations and problem facilities, and SEP #4 will create electronic inspection forms toincorporate elements of Good Manufacturing Processes and to improve identification ofconditions which may render the food injurious to health. BEH/FPP will share lessons learnedwith regional and national partners to leverage these projects. BEH will foster informationsharing through a web-based portal, providing secure access to federal and local public healthpartners to improve foodborne illness prevention and response efforts, and providing publicaccess to support academic research and to inform the general public. This proposal seeks toenhance interagency collaboration among state, federal, and local public health partners,industry and other stakeholders in order to provide a technical and operational foundation fordevelopment and maintenance of an integrated food safety system. Measures to meet thesegoals and objectives will be carried out within the framework of the cooperative agreement.