Enhancing the Capacity and Capability of Washington State Human and Animal Food Testing Laboratory in Support of an Integrated Food Safety System

PAR-20-105: Overall ComponentProject SummaryThe Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Food Safety and Consumer Services(FS&CS) Laboratory Program is the State?s Primary Regulatory Human and Animal Food SafetyLaboratory. The Laboratory has worked very closely with FDA and other federal partners in the pastdecades on several cooperative agreements, for instance, FDA FERN MCAP, ISO, MFRPS, AFRPS,BSE, RRT, Produce Safety, and USDA MDP. As an ISO17025 accredited laboratory, we?ve had aquality management system in place since 2011 with a dedicated quality assurance staff andprocedures in place to assure good laboratory practices. We have laboratory facilities to assure theproper environment for advanced instrumentation in addition to secure sample custody and laboratoryspace.The FS&CS Laboratory Program is willing and able to participate in the following 7 project areas: (1) Discipline A Microbiology Track 2: Human Food Product Testing (High-500 Samples) (2) Discipline A Microbiology Track 3: Animal Food Product Testing (High-500 Samples) (3) Discipline A Microbiology Track 4: Whole Genome Sequencing (Low-100 Samples) (4) Discipline A Microbiology Track 5: Capability/Capacity Development-Cyclospora (5) Discipline D Special Project Track 1: Sample Collection (High-1000 Samples) (6) Discipline D Special Project Track 2: NFSDX and ORAPP Integration (7) Discipline D Special Project Track 2: Method Development and ValidationThe Laboratory Program is located in a strategic geographic area of the United States. WashingtonState is home to several major international shipping ports, through which nearly $16 billion in foodand agricultural products were exported in 2018. The Port of Seattle, the state?s largest city and port,is the gateway port for all Asian and Canadian trade.The FS&CS Laboratory is eager to be one of the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model fundedlaboratories. The Laboratory is committed to working with the state regulatory Food Safety andAnimal Feed Programs in taking innovative steps toward a fully integrated human and animal feedsafety system. We also continue to be very appreciative of our federal grantor?s support in thisendeavor and look forward to our collaborative work in the future.Washington State Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Consumer Services Laboratory