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The overall goal of this project is to leverage the capabilities of the Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Food Protection and Defense(NCFPD) academic consortium based at the University of Minnesota with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) technical resources and access to food regulators to advance food system safety and security. This project will take an AFDO-developed prototype interactive Web-based program that enables federal, state, and local regulators to communicate and coordinate on a variety of issues critical to food protection and defense beyond the prototype stage to production, deployment, and evaluation in the field. <P>
Applied research will be conducted to evaluate and improve the usefulness of the web-based system to perform a variety of tasks. The first will evaluate the AFDO LAB-DIRECTORY database to provide timely access to current information on the capacity of food and agriculture laboratories to perform analytical testing for traditional and likely bioterrorism agents.
The second will evaluate AFDO unique profiling Web-based software to facilitate timely access to current information on food regulatory agencies through a database of nonlaboratory expertise and listserv capabilities to identify and interact with highly selected target groups within food regulatory agencies over secure Web sites. The third applied research objective is to evaluate the AFDO listserv to rapidly communicate with food regulatory personnel and supplement federal agency Web-based communications systems.<P> Educational objectives seek to leverage the efforts of the NCFPD Educational Core and programs. The first of these is to use the AFDO we-based systems to help identify education and training needs of food regulatory personnel. The second is to develop and modify academic curricula for these personnel. The third is to deliver a variety of academic courses related to food protection and defense, using the communications and distance learning capabilities of the AFDO web-based systems. <P>The objectives of the outreach and extension activities are to leverage relationships with the NCFPD Risk Communication Core and programs, the National Environmental Health Association and the Extension Disaster Education Network. The first of these is to develop a food biosecurity training module to accompany the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Epi-Ready training program. The second is to develop and deliver just-in-time training materials for distribution over the AFDO secure Web site. The third is to create, evaluate, and deliver new and unique research-based educational outreach content to various and mixed audiences of stakeholders across the food system.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Food and agriculture systems are highly distributed networks of large corporations and small, independent producers, providing many potential targets for terrorism. From 85% to 90% of food safety inspections are conducted by state and local regulatory agencies; these also provide the bulk of laboratory testing of food and environmental samples during an intentional contamination event. At present there is no mechanism to provide coordination or facilitate communication among state, local and federal agencies. The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) has developed a prototype web-based system to provide timely access to information on the capacity of food and agriculture laboratories to test for traditional and likely bioterrorism agents. The National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) is working with food industry and public health work groups across the food chain to develop information management systems to support food protection. The NCFPD-AFDO collaboration will conduct research to evaluate the usefulness of the AFDO web-based system to provide timely access to information and identify specific gaps in threat prevention activities, identify and meet educational needs of food regulatory personnel, and enhance the ability of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and the Extension Service to provide food protection and defense outreach activities to their stakeholders. We anticipate that these activities will enhance communication and food protection risk management activities throughout the food regulatory system.
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APPROACH: Specific aims are proposed for research, education, and outreach effort: To accomplish the first research aim we will develop and run query algorithms for the AFDO LAB-DIRECTORY database and evaluate their usefulness to provide timely access to current information on the capacity of food and agriculture labs to perform analytical testing for traditional and likely bioterrorism agents. To accomplish the second research aim we will develop and run database search algorithms to query the AFDO profiling Web-based software to identify highly selected target groups within food regulatory agencies and evaluate the usefulness of the AFDO Web site to host forums and perform customized data-collection queries targeted to specific topics and groups. To accomplish the third research aim we will modify and forward health and food safety messages to evaluate the usefulness of the AFDO listserv to rapidly communicate important information to food regulators, and serve as a supplement to federal agency Web-based communications systems such as the CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) and USDA and FDA FERN. To accomplish the first education aim we will use the custom profile capacity of the AFDO web-based systems to help identify needs of food regulatory personnel. To accomplish the second education aim we will develop and modify curricula, in conjunction with the NCFPD Education Core to meet needs of food regulatory personnel. To accomplish the third education aim we will use the AFDO web-based systems to deliver educational resources to food regulatory personnel. To accomplish the first outreach aim we will work in conjunction with NEHA, to develop a food biosecurity module to accompany the Epi-Ready Training Program on foodborne outbreak investigations for environmental health specialists. To accomplish the second outreach aim we will develop and use the videoconferencing and distance learning capabilities of the AFDO Web site for just-in-time training of food regulatory personnel and for delivery of timely information to designated spokespersons within hours of an event unfolding. To accomplish the third outreach aim we will create, evaluate, and deliver new and unique research-based educational outreach content to various and mixed audiences including food industry personnel; local, state, and national officials; health professionals; and leaders within the agriculture and food industry sectors; promote the availability of outreach materials through the national Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).