Food Safety Task Force

<p>Project Summary: The purpose of the Missouri Food Safety Task force (MFSTF) is to bring together federal, state and local regulatory agencies, producer and retailer (industry) groups, legislators and consumers to discuss common, crosscutting food safety issues of concern in Missouri and to identify strategies for jointly addressing these concerns. The task force members agreed that: 'Production Delivery and Preparation of Safe Food in Missouri' It is the vision for the food safety in Missouri. They also adopted the following mission statement:
<br>To work together to promote food safety through:
<ul>
<li>Educating producers, processors, retailers, food handlers and the diverse public;</li>
<li>Facilitating communication and public disclosure (awareness of responsibilities);</li>
<li>Preventing and reducing food borne illness;</li>
<li>Supporting practical, focused research and evaluation;</li>
<li>Supporting economically viable and environmentally responsible policies and practices; and Efficiently using pooled resources. </li></ul>
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The task force used a group consensus process to develop four priorities:
<ol>
<li>Increasing collaboration and interaction between agencies and organizations. </li>
<li>Getting the right message to the right audience at the right time and in a form that is useable,</li>
<li>Addressing high turnover in retail industry and processing; and</li>
<li>Funding for research, for training, and developing priorities.</li></ol></p>