National Integrated Food Safety Initiative

Jodi P. Williams, PhD

February 24, 2010

Southern Region Program Leaders Meeting

• All current CSREES authorities transferred to the new institute

• Led by a presidentially-appointed director

NIFA Transition

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition

Ensuring a safe food supply Improving citizens’ health through nutrition

Reducing childhood obesity Improving food quality

AFRIFood Safety, Biological Food Safety, EpiFood Safety: Food ProtectionHuman Nutrition, Obesity

Food Safety ProgramsCommunity Food ProjectsNIFSIHATCH/MultistateSpecial Research GrantsFederal Administration

National Integrated Food Safety Initiative

• Supports projects that address selected priority issues in food safety

• Supports projects using an integrated approach– Research , Education, Extension

Priority Areas: NIFSI

• Food safety education and training – Consumers– Farmers – Industry– Retail

• Fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables

Priority Areas: NIFSI• New food processing technologies• Food defense

– threat prevention– threat response– risk management– communication– public education

• Sources and persistence of microbial pathogens in meat, poultry, dairy, and fish, and applying control measures for reducing those pathogens

Eligible Applicants

• Faculty from accredited 4-year colleges and universities

• Faculty from the 1994 Tribal Colleges

• Collaboration with other public and private groups and institutions is encouraged through subcontracts

Collaborative Efforts• Encourage collaboration

– local, state, and Federal governments, professional associations, public or private organizations

• To improve communications with high risk, underserved and hard to reach audiences– Encourage collaborations

• 1890 Land Grant Institutions• 1994 Land Grant Institutions• Hispanic Serving Institutions

Integrated Programs• At least 2 of the 3 components must be included in

the program– Research and Education– Research and Extension– Education and Extension

• Programs should be multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and/or multi-state

• All of the components should be absolutely necessary to the successful outcome of the program

Applied Research

• NIFSI focuses on applied research

Basic vs. Applied Research

• Basic research focuses on developing new knowledge, new processes, or new technologies

• Applied research focuses on applying new knowledge, processes, or technologies

Applied Research

• Applied Research– Scientific or Laboratory Research– Behavioral Research– Educational Research– Evaluative Research– Survey Research – Focus Group Research– Message Development and Testing

Education

• Food safety education and training implemented in a formal classroom setting

• Includes elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate education

Education• All educational components must

include– Evaluation tool – evaluate the

effectiveness of the educational intervention in accomplishing intended objectives

Extension/Outreach• Food safety education and training implemented in a non-

formal setting– Includes industry and retail training and education– Development and distribution of educational materials

• Pamphlets• Flyers• Fact sheets• Training curricula• Videotapes• Audiotapes• CD-ROMS• Interactive software• Website development• And a variety of other audiovisual and print media

Extension/Outreach• All extension intervention programs must

include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention in accomplishing the intended objectives– The focus should be on behavior change or

adoption of safe practices as opposed to how many pamphlets, etc. were distributed

RESEARCH AND EXTENSION

Examples of Current Awards

Develop a multifaceted food safety educational approach to reach families with young children.

The educational component will use a social marketing framework [(Social Marketing

Assessment and Response Tool) SMART].

FOOD SAFETY FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

J. Albrecht, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

• Conduct 6-8 focus groups -- food safety behavior, barriers and beliefs of the primary food handler from families with young children utilizing the constructs of the Health Belief Model.

• Develop a survey using the constructs of the Health Belief Model.

• Based on the results of the focus groups and survey, a multifaceted food safety educational program using many delivery methods, including technology, will be developed.

• Conduct an outcome based evaluation of the educational programming.

Objectives

Dr. Ricke -- AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM APPROACH TO REDUCE SALMONELLA IN ORGANIC AND ALL

NATURAL POULTRY – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

The overall goal of this project is to systematically fill gaps in our current knowledge on controlling

microbial pathogens in natural and organic poultry and develop methods to reduce pathogens. This

project encompasses small and large scale operations.

Salmonella in Organic Poultry (cont’d)

• Conducting preharvest surveillance and epidemiology;

• Developing preharvest intervention strategies; • Developing postharvest intervention strategies;

and • Conducting outreach activities (workshops and

HACCP programs) for natural and organic poultry producers and processors

FOOD SAFETY COMPLIANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE TRAINING FOR HOT/COLD SELF-

SERVE BARS – Dr. Alvarado – Texas Tech University

This proposal seeks to improve and standardize the food safety training in hot/cold self-serve bars and increase

consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply at retail stores.

Hot and Cold Self Serve Bars (cont’d)

• Conduct an assessment on the current state of food safety compliance and practices in self-serve hot/cold bars in grocery stores at different locations throughout the USA

• Develop training modules to improve food handling behavior for hot/cold self-serve bars that complement SuperSafeMark training

• Conduct onsite training for retail food managers of select grocery stores and evaluate the training

• Conduct a re-assessment of the hot/cold self-serve bars following training and revise the modules based on the assessment

• Develop online educational training materials specific for hot/cold self-serve bars and make this training available for all grocery stores

• Develop information for consumers, in the form of signs and pamphlets,

Special Emphasis Grants - $6M

• Priority Areas

– Safety of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (2, $1M)

– Antibiotic Resistance (2, $2M)

Award Amounts and Duration

• Standard Grants - $600,000– 3 years

• Bridge Grants - $100,000 – 2 years

• Conference Grants -- $50,000– 2 years

• Special Emphasis Grant -- $1.0M-$2.5 M – 4 years

FY 2009 Award Statistics: NIFSI

• $13.7M• 94 Proposals Submitted• 21 Awarded – 22% Success Rate• 1 Special Emphasis Grant

– Enhancing the Safety of Locally Grown Produce through Extension and Research – Colorado State University

NIFSI Program Contacts• Jan Singleton, PhD, RD

– National Program Leader, Food Science and Food Safety– jsingleton@csrees.usda.gov

• Ram Rao, PhD– National Program Leader, Food Science and Food

Technology– rrao@csrees.usda.gov

• Jodi P. Williams, PhD– Program Specialist, Food Science and Food Safety– jwilliams@csrees.usda.gov