KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Center for Agriculture and Food Security and Preparedness (CAFSP) at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture’s College of Veterinary Medicine is awarded two grants totaling almost $3 million from the federal government this year.
CAFSP first received a grant for $1.5 million from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help support implementation of its Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was signed into law in 2011. The FSMA shifts federal regulators’ focus from responding after a foodborne illness outbreak, to finding effective ways to prevent them.
The FDA hopes to reduce the number of outbreaks in the United States linked to both domestic and international produce farms by developing a food safety training program for the nation’s food inspectors. Dr. Sharon Thompson, CAFSP founder and director, will develop the program.
"Our training has an impact on the (farming) industry, but our focus is on the regulators to make sure that they know how to inspect the facilities and to ensure that is carried out in a consistent manner," explained Thompson.
"We are partnering with New Mexico State University on our development of this training program and have assembled a strong team with experience in produce safety, instructional design and performance assessment. I am pleased that we have been given the opportunity to support FDA in this critically important endeavor that will enhance food safety in the U.S."
Since its inception in 2006, CAFSP has been continually funded, having administered more than $18.1 million in competitively awarded grant funding from the Department of Homeland Security, FDA and state and local government agencies to support the development and delivery of national training programs in the workforce.
"We’ve developed quality products and training courses, and we’ve been well recognized for the work that we do, so that’s why we’ve gotten good grants. We have a track record of demonstrated success," Thompson said.
"This award puts the College of Veterinary Medicine and the UT Institute of Agriculture at the forefront of an important national and international issue," said Dr. Larry Arrington, chancellor of the UT Institute of Agriculture. "Food and its safety impact us all, so to be leading the effort in preventing deadly foodborne illnesses is another example of how we fulfill our mission as a land-grant university."
Foodborne illness in this country is a serious problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year approximately 48 million people – 1 in 6 Americans – get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne illnesses.
"There are many different pathogens that have been associated with produce contamination. That’s why implementing and addressing the issue is complex, because it’s not a simple solution. You have to look at different practices for different produce production," Thompson said.
Officials want training for inspectors to be completed by next August so they will be ready when the requirements of the FSMA go into effect. Thompson said regulations will begin at different times for different producers.
"Even though the rule comes out at the end of October, there’s a delay period in terms of implementation. You have a year for some producers to come into compliance, two years for other producers to come into compliance," she said. "So, they have to have inspectors trained before that rule is enforced."
While CAFSP’s focus is on developing training for inspectors, Thompson acknowledged there has been discussion and feedback from producers on the purposed rules with which producers will have to comply.
"We do have as part of our team that will be working with us some representation from produce associations … so we do intend to get input to make sure what we develop is done in a consistent way and is transparent," she explained.
In addition to developing an application for smart phones and tablets, the center will develop several online and in-person courses designed to train food safety inspectors from federal, state, local territorial and tribal agencies, CAFSP officials said.
It also has been awarded more than $1.365 million in grants by the U.S. Department of State in September for a one-year period to develop and conduct a variety of trainings for Egyptian and Pakistani officials.
The trainings will be delivered to participant groups that include regulators, first responders, law enforcement, industry and animal health and public health officials.
The training will focus on health and safety in the community and will provide benefits for the nonproliferation of biological weapons.
Among CAFSP’s courses is the Agriculture and Food Risk Assessment Training Program. It is designed to directly reduce biological threats in Pakistan by providing participants training on risk-assessment techniques to prevent the intentional introduction of dangerous biologic pathogens into food processing and agriculture facilities.
"The Department of State is a new funding partner for us in terms of funding agencies," explained Thompson. "This is our first grant from them, and we’re very excited about that."
