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  3. Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) Programs and Initiatives
  4. Food Protection Task Force (FPTF)
  1. Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) Programs and Initiatives

Food Protection Task Force (FPTF)

What is a Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) and what is its purpose?

FPTFs consist of regulatory, industry, academia, and consumer groups. These FPTFs create an effective nationwide infrastructure for enhancing outreach, response, integration and information sharing in state, local, and tribal governments.

The FPTF grant is available to state, local, and tribal governments to convene stakeholders in food safety. Meetings funded as part of the FPTF grant aim to foster communication, cooperation, and collaboration which have resulted in:

  • Greater awareness of potential vulnerabilities in our food supply.

  • Creation of foodborne illness prevention programs.

  • New surveillance systems for detecting foodborne illness.

  • The ability to respond more quickly to outbreaks.

Changes in consumer dietary patterns, industry practices, and the U.S. population, combined with an increasingly globalized food supply chain and the emergence of new pathogens and other contaminants pose challenges that require us to continually update our current food protection strategies. Groups like the FPTF will continue to be a critical and effective tool in national efforts to protect public health.

What are the general aims of a FPTF?

  • Provides a forum for all the stakeholders of the food protection system—regulatory agencies, academia, industry, consumers, state legislators, Boards of Health and Agriculture, and other interested parties.

  • Develop and share replicable resources across the Coalition of FPTFs. 

  • Identify areas and opportunities to strengthen the food defense, food safety, and related public infrastructure to preserve, promote and protect public health.

  • Assists in adopting or implementing the FDA Food Code or other food protection regulations.

  • Promotes collaboration and integration between food protection stakeholders which protects public health.

Is funding available to support FPTFs?

The FPTF funding track within the Flexible Funding Model (FFM) Infrastructure, Development, and Maintenance for State Manufactured Food Regulatory Programs Cooperative Agreement Program (RFA-FD-001) grant provides up to $10,000 per year to awardee programs to fund meetings and other food safety activities or projects. The FDA-funded Food Protection Task Forces foster communication, cooperation and collaboration within the States state, local, federal and tribal food protection, public health, agriculture, and regulatory agencies. 

There are additional Food Protection Task Forces participating in the Coalition of Food Protection Task Forces that are identified as active and are not currently funded by the FDA. These unfunded task forces do not receive funding from FDA through this grant program but are also critical members of the Coalition of Food Protection Task Forces. 

The Coalition of Food Protection Task Forces is partially funded by the FDA through a grant award to the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) to promote communication, collaboration and integration between and amongst state FPTFs to build and strengthen partnerships to protect and defend our food supply by: 1) Promoting voluntary compliance with human and animal food laws and regulations; 2) Preventing human and animal foodborne illness and contamination; and 3) Improving local, state and multi-jurisdictional human and animal food emergency surveillance, response and post-response systems. 

Who are the current awardees?

 

United States Map displaying 22 FDA-funded Food Protection Task Force grant states: AK, AZ, CT, GA, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NC, PA, RI, SC, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WY. DC FPTF is funded by FDA through PAR-19-306.

United States Map displaying 22 FDA-funded Food Protection Task Force grant states: AK, AZ, CT, GA, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NC, PA, RI, SC, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WY. DC FPTF is funded by FDA through PAR-19-306.

Not pictured, known Food Protection Task Forces not funded by FDA: AL, AR, CO, DE, FL, ID, IL, IN, LA, MA, ME, MS, NM, NY, OK, VT, WI. 

  • 23 grant awards with state and territorial government regulatory agencies.
  • 22 states are covered in the FPTF under the FFM grant funding opportunity. 
  • Around $321K in funding under this track in the FFM grant program. 

Coalition of Food Protection Task Forces Best Practices Manual

This document is a tool to provide Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) stakeholders with information to help build, maintain, and continuously improve the quality of their task forces. View the Best Practice Manual (from AFDO.org).

Who do I contact for more information?

General questions can be directed to OP.Feedback@fda.hhs.gov.

Specific questions on this program can be directed to the appropriate Office of Partnerships' contact within the Division of Partnership Investments and Agreements. Please visit the Office of Partnerships Contacts webpage to obtain a downloaded version of the staffing roster. 

For more information about Food Protection Task Forces, please visit the Coalition of Food Protection Task Forces website.

 
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