Enhancing Food Testing Capabilities at the WVDA through Discipline A: Microbiology Analytical Track 3: Animal Food Product Testing

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Project Summary for Discipline A, Analytical track 3: Animal Food Product Testing The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is the primary regulatory agency and laboratory for the Animal Food Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS). The laboratory desires to enhance their capacity and capabilities of animal food product microbiology analysis through the FDA Laboratory Flexible Funding Model Cooperative Agreement surveillance project. Samples will be collected by the WVDA Regulatory Officers and will be analyzed by the WVDA Laboratory. Both parties will approve a sampling plan for each year. Currently, the WVDA is accredited for 18 microbiological methods with three of the Salmonella methods being approved for animal feed. Any methods used for surveillance activities will follow ISO 17025 guidelines including proficiency testing and method validations. The WVDA has been an active member of the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) since 2005, and a recipient of the FERN USDA FSIS Cooperative Agreement Program since 2010. The laboratory completed method development, method validations, and surveillance activities for FERN. Since 2015, the laboratory completed surveillance activities for the AFRPS ISO 17025 Cooperative Agreement Program. The WVDA will provide training and mentorship to other state laboratories as requested by the FDA. Several laboratory staff have been involved in FERN trainings analysts from the WVDA have provided training at USDA and FDA sites related to FERN trains. With the current established framework at the WVDA of personnel, facilities, ISO accreditation, on-going involvement of surveillance activities, and FERN method development, the WVDA is committed to completing the objectives of the surveillance project. This project will enhance the animal feed surveillance in West Virginia in order to support an integrated food safety system and enhance the collaboration with the FDA to build a nationally integrated laboratory science system. 1|Page