Supporting, Assessing, and Promoting The Roles of Health Departments in Retail Food Safety Regulation

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)RFA-FD-16-019Supporting, Assessing, and Promoting the Roles of Health Departments in Retail Food SafetyRegulation"Project Summary/AbstractThe National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is a membershiporganization, representing approximately 2,800 local health departments (LHDs) nationwide.NACCHO strives to protect and improve the health of all Americans by assisting and engagingLHDs in promoting national public health policy, developing resources and programs, seekinghealth equity, and supporting effective local public health practice and systems. An integralpiece of this mission is devoted to food safety, achieved through NACCHO's promotion aroundthe role of LHDs in food safety regulation and contributing toward an integrated food safetysystem, in collaboration with federal and partner agencies. The proposed five-year initiative laysout five key goals which will further assist LHDs as leaders in food safety regulation. Theseinclude: (1) increasing participation and conformance of local and state health departmentsnationwide to the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (RetailProgram Standards); (2) examining how food regulatory authority is exercised at the local level;(3) exploring how retail food regulatory programs categorize and inspect establishments by risk;(4) assessing how local and state health departments are using the Retail Program Standardsand identifying best practices; and (5) ensuring LHDs understand the role they play in variousregulatory food-related policy issues. NACCHO's Food Safety Workgroup (12 LHDrepresentatives from diverse geographical locations and jurisdictional sizes) and its Food SafetyLeaders of over 100 individuals representing health departments, the food industry, andacademia from across the nation will inform the five-year initiative in an effort to help identifypriorities for NACCHO's food safety program and relevant policy updates. Under the guidanceof these groups and the FDA, NACCHO will develop tools essential for LHDs to better conformto the Retail Program Standards and improve food safety regulation. This five-year plan will alsoallow NACCHO to share stories of successful implementation based on the efforts of innovativeleaders engaged through this initiative, while strengthening the robust peer network cultivatedthrough the mentorship program, communications infrastructure, and workshops. Throughsystematic reviews, roundtable discussions, key informant interviews, NACCHO will deepen theunderstanding of how retail food regulatory programs exercise their authority and assign the riskof retail food establishments to determine frequency of inspections. With the Food SafetyModernization Act's rules coming into effect, NACCHO will also explore how these rules willimpact the roles LHDs play and share best practices.