Coordinating expanded educational and outreach opportunities for Georgia's Food Safety and Defense Task Force

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Project Abstract: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) has announced the availability of up to $10,000 per year through 2018 to be awarded under the support for Conferences and Scientific meetings to Food Protection Task Forces. The development of Food Protection Task Forces has allowed states to organize meetings to foster communication, cooperation, and collaboration within the State among State, local, tribal, and territorial food protection, public health, agriculture, and regulatory agencies. The meetings provide a forum for all stakeholders of the food protection system, assist in adopting or implementing the Food Code and other food protection regulations, and promote the integration of an efficient statewide food safety/defense system that maximizes the protection of public health through prevention, intervention and response including the early detection and contamination of foodborne illness. The purpose of the Georgia Food Safety and Defense Task Force (GaFSTF) group is to establish better lines of communication between all stakeholders - including federal, state, industry and local agencies - in order to ensure effective and efficient response to food defense and food safety issues, waterborne hazards and other public health problems. All members of the GaFSTF are volunteers who believe in the goal of an integrated food safety system for the State of Georgia. Currently, the group conducts two meetings per year to discuss relevant national and state issues, including current issues that require a multi-agency response. The focus is on food safety and defense. Active members of the GaFSTF include representatives from FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS), both regionally and in the Atlanta District; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Georgia Departments of Agriculture (GDA), Education (DoE) and Public Health (DPH); Georgia universities and colleges; the Georgia Food Industry Association, Georgia Restaurant Association, Georgia Food Bank Association, and Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and other industry associations; district and county health departments and various members of the food service and retail and manufactured food sales industries. In 2013, a GaFSTF Executive Committee was created, made up of nine members from FDA, CDC, GDA and DPH. This group is charged with helping the task force achieve its mission and objectives, and coordinating annual meetings. During meetings, presentations are made by speakers who are knowledgeable on current topics in food safety and defense including, the Georgia Food and Feed Rapid Response Team (GaRRT), Manufacturing/Retail/Feed Program Standards, FDA Reportable Food Registry, Food Safety Modernization Act, the Food Code, and more. Topics for discussion include relevant public health issues, such as foodborne illness and outbreak incidents; recalls, tracebacks and other investigations; information/data sharing; uniform standards and regulations; food safety legislation; consumer education, training and certification and more. The GaFSTF, as part of this application, will maintain annual meetings in addition to sponsoring one annual large-scale conference, training, or conference event that will be open to an extended group of stakeholders, and will cross-promote an integrated food safety system by partnering with likeminded organizations and other task forces across the region and nationally. This application describes the task force goals for the next several years, detailing slated topics and outreach concepts that will be applied to various food protection audiences.