Enhancing the Capability and Capacity of Human and Animal Food Testing Laboratories within West Virginia under the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model

West Virginia Department of Agriculture Laboratory Flexible Funding ModelPAR-20-105 Abstract- Overall Food surveillance testing is an integral part of protecting consumers and the nation?sfood supply. In order to detect and remove contaminated food from the supply chain, it isimportant for agricultural agencies to be able to quickly and accurately test for a wide variety ofpathogens. The proposed project will increase the overall testing capabilities and capacities offood testing in West Virginia. This mitigation will directly decrease the risk of contaminated foodsfrom reaching endpoint consumers. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) will specifically aim to enhance thecapability and capacity of WV?s human and animal food testing laboratories in support of anintegrated food safety system. The WVDA will provide enhanced sample collections and testofferings in the fields of microbiology and chemistry that are ISO accredited and accepted by theFDA. The WVDA will also develop special projects that will support and expand related testing.The WVDA also aims to strengthen and improve the collaboration of surveillance activitiesbetween the FDA and other laboratory partners. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture serves as the primary regulatory agency forhuman and animal food product testing and is also the primary regulatory agency for the testingof manufactured foods (MFRPS) and animal food (AFRPS) in WV. The laboratories have 18 methods that are ISO 17025 accredited. The agency has beenan active member of the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) since 2005. Thelaboratories have completed method development, single and multi-laboratory methodvalidations, and surveillance activities for FERN. The WVDA actively conducts analysis of foodsfor microbiology and chemistry food defense purposes as well. The WVDA has demonstrated that with the infrastructure and experience of personnel,the facility, ISO accreditation, research projects, method developments, and on-goingsurveillance projects that it is committed to completing the objectives of this track. This projectwill enhance the human food surveillance capability and capacity of the WVDA and help supportan integrated food safety system by strengthening cooperation with the FDA.