Pierce Food Program Standards Initiative

Pierce Food Program Standards Initiative Project AbstractThe Pierce Food Program Standards Initiative will reduce the incidence of foodborne illness by increasingPierce County Washington's compliance with the FDA food code. Progress will be made on each of theFDA Retail Program Standards with the goal of gaining compliance with seven out of nine standards by2020. Increased conformance with the Program Standards will: • Enhance program uniformity • Focus on program areas that have the greatest food safety impact • Cultivate wide spread effective risked-based intervention strategies • Provide guidance in program implementation and administration • Improve communication among stakeholders on how to best reduce foodborne illness • Improve industry and consumer confidence in our food safety programThe Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will lead this initiative and use grant funds to supportproject staffing, conduct a risk factor assessment, implement project plans, develop systems and policiesand increase educational and community engagement efforts.A large focus of this initiative is using Quality Improvement tools and processes to develop and improvesystems with a focus on continual improvement and sustainability, so that successes will carry onbeyond the life of the grant period. Health Department Quality Improvement Coordinators will provideongoing assistance in this area.Using the Food Programs Communication, Community Engagement and Customer Service Plan,stakeholders will have a greater level of involvement in food safety issues within the county.Educational and outreach strategies will be used to increase understanding of food safety, improvecompliance with the Pierce County food code and engage communities in decision making.Successes and lessons learned will be shared with the FDA, local, national and other partners to helpforward innovations and gains in this area to create a healthier food supply.Pierce Food Program Standards Initiative Project Abstract