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Advancing Minnesota's Conformance with Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards

Objective

Project AbstractThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Office ofPartnership (OP), is announcing the availability of cooperative agreements to be awarded underLimited Competition to State, local, territorial, or tribal retail food regulatory programs. Theintended outcome of this FOA is to advance efforts for a nationally integrated food safetysystem through the conformance with and advancement of the Voluntary National Retail FoodRegulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS or Retail Program Standards). The VNRFRPS applyto the operation and management of a retail food regulatory program that is focused on thereduction of risk factors known to contribute to foodborne illness and the promotion of industryaction to achieve active managerial control of these risk factors.The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Food and Feed Safety Division (FFSD)licenses and inspects approximately 8,900 food facilities including 7,000 retail foodestablishments in Minnesota and delegates and oversees retail food inspection authority toseven local health agencies in the state. The seven local health agencies license and inspectapproximately 2,200 retail facilities under a delegation agreement with MDA. The FFSD has adedicated Retail Food Program responsible for retail food licensing, compliance, and inspectionactivities. The Retail Food Program has one food program manager, four food inspectionsupervisors, and twenty-four dedicated field inspection staff. FFSD has an additional twentystaff that fully or partially support the Retail Food Program in administrative capacities.The MDA, as part of this application, will create a comprehensive Strategic Plan that outlinesthe milestones and goals needed to conduct self-assessment updates for Standards 3, 5, 6, and7. Other goals of the strategic plan include continued work on Standard 4, as well as policy andprocedure maintenance for all standards.

Investigators
Rigdon, Carrie
Institution
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Start date
2020
End date
2021
Project number
1U18FD007005-01