Food Defense Tools Now Available From the US FDA By Susie McKinley
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ccording to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Food Defense is the collective term used by the FDA, USDA, DHS, etc. to encompass activities associated with protecting the nation’s food supply from deliberate or intentional acts of contamination or tampering. This term encompasses other similar verbiage (i.e., bioterrorism (BT), counter-terrorism (CT), etc.).” Food defense is one important aspect of the Nation’s protection of food along with food safety and food quality. To assist the US food industry, the FDA has produced a comprehensive array of free tools to assist operators in developing a food defense plan for food establishments. These programs run the gamut from training programs, to food defense marketing campaigns and customizable plans. The FDA has developed a training program titled “Food Defense 101” which provides training to assist in preventing an intentional effort to damage the food supply. Food Defense 101 prepares attendees to develop their own Food
Defense plans. The Food Defense Plan Builder Tool is software that walks users through development of a personalized food defense plan, and in addition to these efforts, the FDA is hosting a series of Food Defense Awareness Workshops to be held around the country. Other related materials offered by the FDA are the Food Related Emergency Exercise Bundle (FREE-B) which is a compilation of tabletop training exercises, and Employees FIRST, which is a front-line food industry training initiative teaching food defense awareness and defining the acronym FIRST - Employees are the FIRST line of food defense. The FIRST program also includes a training CD and a poster written in English and translated into Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese. The “See Something, Say Something” campaign recognizes that front-line employees are often the first to observe something out of the ordinary. This program offers an easy-to-use poster available in English, Spanish and Chinese. The FDA also offers Vulnerability Assessment Software to assist operators in determining vulnerabilities within an operation or system, and the Mitigation Strategies Database to assist food manufacturers and processors in providing a further “…range of preventative measures….”.
Educational materials like these are valuable and difficult to replicate. FDA food defense resources can be customized to suit your needs. To determine which of these strategies works best for you, visit www.fda.gov/Food/FoodDefense for more information.
Conference for Food Protection Comes to Florida Florida is hosting the 2014 Biennial Meeting of the Conference of Food Protection (CFP) at the Buena Vista Palace in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, May 1 to 7, 2014. The Conference is a gathering of industry, local, state and federal regulators, academia, professional organizations and consumers who meet to work on matters of food safety. The CFP is a valuable resource to all interested in the safety of our nation’s food. Watch for more information about the upcoming CFP meeting in future editions of Florida Restaurant and Lodging Magazine.
Florida’s Integrated Rapid Response Team (FLIRRT) By Rita Johnson
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he Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and local governments, works to prevent disruption to Florida’s critical food and agriculture sector in the event of an emergency through the Florida Integrated Rapid Response Team (FLIRRT). The FLIRRT is a coordinated statewide response to food safety threats that includes planning, training exercises and maintaining preventative technological capabilities. FLIRRT began as a collaboration among federal and state regulatory agencies involved in the food and feed industries to strengthen Florida’s infrastructure and ability to respond to food and food emergencies. Members of the FLIRRT, including FDACS, Florida Department of Health, Florida Department w w w.Res t au ra n t A nd Lodgi ng.com
of Business and Professional Regulations and the FDA, receive training in Incident Command System (ICS), specific commodities and various food processes, as well as investigative techniques in traceback/traceforwards and environmental assessments. This team is equipped with special supplies and gear and can be deployed within a few hours of an event. A FLIRRT Advisory Group maintains communication between the core-involved agencies and develops policies and procedures to guide response efforts. The FLIRRT Standard Operating Guideline (SOG) was developed by the FLIRRT Advisory Group and was most recently activated during the Republican National Convention held in Tampa in August of 2012. Given the size and nature of the event, manpower assistance was requested by event officials to ensure food safety and food defense. FLIRRT provided 21 individuals who represented all the FLIRRT state and federal regulatory stake-
holders and offered the required food safety skill sets to support the event. Despite many challenges at this event, FLIRRT’s comprehensive planning efforts allowed the team to successfully manage the food safety and food defense of this notable event with no reported intentional or unintentional foodborne illness. As demonstrated by the success of the coordinated response during the Republican National Convention, FLIRRT protects the public from or lessens the impact of adverse effects of a foodborne illness. In a state that is highly susceptible to natural or human-made disasters due to its high profile and geographic location, it is critical for FLIRRT to continue to plan, communicate and improve Florida’s infrastructure to respond to threats to food safety and food security. Rita Johnson is an Environmental Consultant for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. F lo r i da R estaura n t & Lo d g i n g
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