When public health experts to track the origin of the disease to a food, government officials are rushing to protect the public by making the point off the market. Representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug (FDA) and state officials or call thousands of retailers to ensure they are complying with the withdrawal of food by the FDA. The FDA reviews the information from these controls to ensure the withdrawal is completed in an effort to prevent further cases of foodborne diseases. The process of conducting audit of these controls involves meaningful communication between federal, state and local public health.
To expedite the process, officials from the FDA is working on a pilot program to coordinate the withdrawal of food in a safe online platform sponsored by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS ) Center of Excellence. This online platform, called Food SHIELD, provides a place for federal, state and local public health laboratory personnel of the state, and regulatory authorities to assist in the development of preparedness and response plans. During the emergency food system, this specifically includes the network capacity quickly and communicates with each other.
In May 2009, FDA officials conducted a simulation of an audit control, using Food SHIELD to coordinate efforts, according to Jacqueline Little, Ph.D., chief of staff of the Office of Compliance in the FDA Office Regulatory Affairs. Using data from a recent retreat, officials from seven states climbed audit results FoodSHIELD verification. FDA officials in field offices review the information, and either approved or in contact with the states to request additional information. In total, the pilot successfully demonstrated the use of FoodSHIELD as the exchange of information and communication tool for retirees and their potential use in the future appears promising. ”[The] pilot is a great example of our efforts to collaborate across agencies and at all levels of food security,” said Heather Brown, Program Analyst with the Office of Resource Management Office FDA Regulatory Affairs.
While the FDA uses FoodSHIELD coordination during the recall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which inspect meat, poultry and processed egg products, use the online platform feature of the working group to provide valuable information for the State officials to help them prepare for situations emergency. In a new effort, FSIS personnel Food Defense Review are launching a working group for the exchange of vulnerability assessments of products regulated by the states for official use. State officials will use the documents to support its food self-defense and improve its communication with industry. FoodSHIELD provides an ideal platform for this activity, since it allows the research process, controls access to documents, and data logging.
Several federal agencies supported the creation of FoodSHIELD. The Association of Food and Drug Officials FoodSHIELD co-sponsored with the DHS-funded NCFPD. DHS awarded a grant in February 2010 to continue funding the Center of Excellence through 2015, with the University of Minnesota continues as the lead. USDA, including FSIS, FoodSHIELD development financed with a four-year grant from the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative. The NCFPD support the ongoing operations of the platform from fiscal year 2010 with funds from DHS, FDA and USDA.The Network of Food Emergency Response (FERN) – a group of federal, state and local food analysis laboratory – also funded the creation of its own portal FoodSHIELD. FERN, which is co-managed by FSIS and the FDA, integrates the laboratories in the country to discuss food in a network that is capable of responding to emergencies involving biological, chemical, or radiological contamination of food. The members of the federal Interagency Working Group FoodSHIELD, including the FDA, FSIS and the Office of Health Affairs DHS (OHA), are developing a letter and a business plan for continued use and funding of federal agenciesFoodSHIELD for the platform.
Federal, state and local officials can use the communication skills of FoodSHIELD to mobilize quickly in an emergency, according to Travis Goodman, coordinator of food defense for the State Health Department in Indiana. Before NCFPD FoodSHIELD launched four years ago, public health officials had to find and collect the necessary contact information for urgent communications. Now officials can contact the representatives of the FDA, DHS, USDA, and relevant State agencies through FoodSHIELD interface. The platform provides access to about 4,000 contacts, allowing widespread recalls or other actions to be broadcast widely, so quickly taken. ”If you can save the response [time], you can only save lives,” said Goodman.
FoodSHIELD communications environment allows public health officials and food regulators to share information in real time during an emergency, said Brown. FoodSHIELD can create working groups for specific threats or to create a webinar to address an emerging threat in a matter of minutes, said Shaun Kennedy, director of NCFPD and professor at the University of Minnesota. ”As the outbreaks of emerging diseases transmitted by food, you will have people sharing information back and forth to identify the source,” said Kennedy. ”[FoodSHIELD] gives them a common portal to go through information sharing.”
Another tool that is implemented in FoodSHIELD which is useful in an emergency food supply is to manage the consequences of the system, a visual modeling tool for predicting the potential effects of a particular incident. The system helps public health officials understand how a serious threat to the food supply could be and how quickly a contaminant could be extended.Developed through a public-private partnership between BTSafety and NCFPD, managing the consequences of the system calculates and displays the potential for morbidity, mortality and economic impact of one pollutant in the food supply, according to Kennedy. Public health officials can also use the tool to experiment with potential responses to the situation.
“The site has FoodSHIELD applications beyond emergency food situations. FoodSHIELD officials can use to find information on topics such as food defense, regulatory programs, public health, laboratory tests, and other related topics ”according to Dr. Patrick McCaskey, executive associate laboratory services in the USDA FSIS.”FoodSHIELD offers its members several ways to collaborate online, such as videoconferencing and online review and editing of documents.”
Public health officials working on preparedness plans to maintain safe food supply can use the platform as a virtual workspace. Officials working in the DHS Food and Agriculture 2010 Annual Report sector – an upgrade plan for the nation of risk management infrastructure designed to protect food supply – have used FoodSHIELD to discuss progress and ideas for initiatives food preparation, according to Goodman.
Within DHS, the Office of Infrastructure Protection (PMI), the OHA, and Science and Technology Directorate all use FoodSHIELD capabilities. PMI gets information from the feed system critical infrastructure of the states that use the platform. The OHA Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Defense Division is working with states to develop assessment tools for food event capacity.
Federal, state and local food safety regulators, laboratory personnel, military personnel and academics are eligible to join FoodSHIELD, located in www.foodshield.org. Government members should be investigated to secure access portions of the site and participate in working groups FoodSHIELD. FoodSHIELD currently offers more than 200 working groups.