Promoting An Integrated Food Safety System in Tennessee By Advancing Conformance With The Vnrfrps With Other Standard Programs By The Tennessee Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Program

Funding Opportunity - RFA-FD-15-018 Limited Competition: Advancing Conformance with theVoluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) (U18)Applicant: State of Tennessee, Department of Agriculture, Consumer & Industry Services DivisionPHS 398 Research PlanProject SummaryThe intent of this project is to advance efforts for a nationally integrated food safety system by advancingconformance with the federal Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards. The section ofthe Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Consumer and Industry Services Division (CIS) Food Safety sectionis responsible for regulatory oversight of retail food firms in Tennessee and will be the focus of this project. CISintends to accomplish the goals of this project by seeking opportunities to host and attend meetings andtrainings to stay informed of current issues for retail food safety, and working to implement a quality assuranceprogram. Any support awarded would also go toward purchasing inspection equipment and travel expenses.Conformance with these standards will improve consistency across Federal, State and local regulatoryprograms and facilitate cooperative efforts to reduce risk to food safety related hazards in facilities that hold orsell retail food. Building trust with other agencies in the methods and procedures used by CIS throughparticipation in nationally recognized standard programs will provide the opportunity to take a more active rolein the developing an Integrated Food Safety System for the U.S. Ultimately, better integration and sharing ofinformation will provide the opportunity to respond proactively, rather than reactively, as risks to the foodsupply are identified.