Expanding Minnesota's FSMA Human Foods Preventive Controls Implementation

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Project Abstract The intended outcome of this program expansion to RFA-FD-18-001 “Flexible Funding Model – Infrastructure Development and Maintenance for State Manufactured Food Regulatory Programs” is to advance the efforts for a nationally Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) by assisting State manufactured food regulatory programs to promote compliance with the Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-based Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation (PCHF Rule). PCHF is intended to ensure safe manufacturing, processing, packing and holding of food products for human consumption in the United States. This program expansion provides funding to incorporate PCHF activities into the existing human food safety framework being implemented by the grantees under RFA-FD-18-00. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Food and Feed Safety Division (FFSD) licenses and inspects approximately 10,000 food facilities including 2,000 manufactured and wholesale food establishments in Minnesota. The MDA-FFSD has program responsibility for both retail and manufactured foods, animal food/feed, and produce. The Manufactured Food Program (MFP) within MDA-FFSD currently has a staff of 20 with 16 conducting field inspections of food manufacturers/processors and food storage warehouses. The MDA-FFSD also has multiple supporting units that include an additional 20 staff who fully or partially assist the Manufactured Food Program in day-to-day operations including compliance and enforcement, response and outreach, data management, training support, and electronic systems maintenance. These staff also lead and coordinate updates to procedures and processes including document management as well as achieving and maintaining conformance with the MFRPS. The MDA, as part of this application, will create a comprehensive Strategic Plan that outlines the objectives and deliverables needed to incorporate PCHF implementation strategies into the MFRPS, identify and fulfill training needs and auditing programs to advance inspections under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), build infrastructure and program improvement based upon the PCHF rule, maintain regulatory authorities equivalent to PCHF and FSMA rules, conduct outreach to promote compliance with FSMA regulations, and participate in joint workplanning, enforcement, and information sharing.