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The Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD) is a USDA/CSREES sponsored project that originated with the Residue Avoidance Program in 1982. It has been a collaborative effort on the part of NCSU, U of California, the U of Florida, & the U of Illinois. In 1996, Illinois participation in FARAD ceased. FARAD originated as a repository of residue avoidance information and educational materials; now evolved into an expert-mediated residue avoidance decision support system which has become crucial to the maintenance of a residue-free food supply to the American public.<P> FARAD was authorized by the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (AREERA) which required FARAD to provide the following: <OL> <LI>provide livestock producers, extension specialists, scientists, and veterinarians with information to prevent drug, pesticide, and environmental contaminant residues in food animal products; maintain up-to-date information concerning: a. withdrawal times on FDA-approved food animal drugs and appropriate withdrawal intervals for drugs used in food animals in the US, as established under section 512(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360b(a)); b. official tolerances for drugs and pesticides in tissues, eggs, and milk; c. descriptions and sensitivities of rapid screening tests for detecting residues in tissues, eggs, and milk; and d. data on the distribution and fate of chemicals in food animals; <LI>publish periodically a compilation of food animal drugs approved by the FDA; <LI> make information on food animal drugs available to the public through handbooks and other literature, computer software, a telephone hotline, & the Internet; <LI> furnish producer quality-assurance programs with up-to-date data on approved drugs; maintain a comprehensive & up-to-date, residue avoidance database; <LI>provide professional advice for determining the withdrawal times necessary for food safety in the use of drugs in food animals; <LI>engage in other activities designed to promote food safety. </OL>The objective of the 3 collaborating universities is to continue the development and delivery of FARAD, and to utilize current technologies to make changes in FARAD which will improve its usefulness and utility as a decision support system. The 5 primary tasks include: <OL> <LI>Extraction & validation of data for incorporation into the system and support for publication of the Food Animal Drug Compendiums in electronic format (VetGRAM) for INTERNET delivery. Extraction of relevant data from foreign drug compendia & gFARAD partners.<LI> Operation of the Regional Access Centers (RAC's)in California and North Carolina for dissemination of residue avoidance information, with access through the toll-free number & e-mail. <LI> Data entry, pharmacokinetic analysis, maintenance, & distribution of the FARAD files. <LI> Preparation of FARAD Digests for publication in the Journal of the AVMA and other publications for distribution. <LI>Develop and validate methods to allow extrapolative techniques to be used in providing information and advice in situations where no direct data currently exists, the norm for mitigating environmental contaminant exposures.
Non-Technical Summary: While the users of FARAD are veterinarians, regulatory agencies, and extension specialists, the ultimate client is the general public who can consume foods of animal origin that are free of harmful drug and chemical residues. This ability has proven vital to the execution of the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act of 1994 (AMDUCA) regulations that legalized the extralabel use of drugs by veterinarians. The goal of FARAD is the production of safe foods of animal origin through the prevention and mitigation of violative chemical residues in food animal products. The goals of this year's support for NCSU is continued operation of the national hotline center, complete implementation and testing of the EWE (Extrapolated Withdrawal Interval Estimator) algorithm to automatically calculate safe extra-label or environmental contaminant withdrawal intervals, and initial validation of in vivo residue monitoring approaches. <P> Approach: A. New chemicals will be added to the system as residue information is found during broad searches of electronic bibliographic citation databases (MEDLINE, TOXLINE, AGRICOLA, etc.). In addition, the UCD FARAD personnel will answer targeted requests for residue avoidance information about specific chemicals of concern. B. Compounds currently entered into FARAD will be updated - Newly acquired articles are reviewed and useful data extracted and entered into FARAD. C. The Regional Access Centers (RACs) will continue to service information requests on a national basis D. Updating of data file on rapid residue screening tests - File will be upgraded to accommodate independent evaluative data where it exists. E. Preparation of Food Animal Drug Compendium and summary reports on chemicals of special concern - Data on approved drugs & environmental contaminants which is the focus of the Trades Database & is included in the Food Animal Drug Compendia, has continued to be collected on an ongoing basis and entered into the database. F. Continued implementation of new FARAD INTRANET structure - The linkage of the three FARAD sites with one another through an INTRANET is essential to efficient operation and to insure consistency in the recommendations given for residue avoidance. The Trades files are available through the FARAD website, & a more extensive updated version is circulated to all FARAD sites on a monthly basis. G. FARAD data analysis and system integration - There is a massive amount of unique information contained within FARAD. Data can be used to model interspecies differences in residue disappearance from food animals. H. FARAD Digest - Each of the three FARAD centers has taken responsibility for the production of FARAD Digests for publication in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA). The FARAD Digests appear as feature articles in JAVMA and present sound, reviewed information, about avoiding residues in food animals following extra-label drug use. The FARAD Digests are also available on-line on the FARAD Website. I. Implementation of gFARAD (global FARAD) - The operation in member countries will continue to be supported entirely by local funds, Additionally, data gathered from gFARAD collaborators are an essential component of software presently being developed as the primary tool for establishing scientifically valid extralabel drug and environmental contaminant withdrawal intervals in the US. Finally, it must be stressed that FARAD has increased its international reach through its active participation in the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) and providing FARAD data to its Animal Health and Production Compendium. J. Planning and Development for Validation of Residue Avoidance Algorithms - An essential element of any predictive modeling system is validation of the output. The initial validation step use residue surveillance and violation data from existing databases, (RVIS, TRIMS) to statistically confirm FARAD recommended withdrawal intervals. If FARAD were to achieve full funding, the final validation will be through direct controlled experimental studies or prospective trace-back studies.