Fda Fern Cooperative Agreement Continuation Program (u18)

Project Summary/AbstractThe objective of this program is to provide increased analytical capacity and expertise to supportfederal laboratories in the event of a large-scale food emergency. This is accomplished by: (1)Cooperating laboratories hiring and training staff to perform specialized food safety testing, (2)Developing proficiency in the use of standardized food safety testing procedures and the use ofstandardized instrument platforms used in the testing, and (3) The electronic reporting of testingresults to a central data system. In addition to assisting federal laboratories test samples in theevent of an actual food emergency, cooperating laboratories assist with the development andvalidation of food testing procedures and the extension of existing food testing procedures tonew food commodities.