(FDA: Washington, D.C.) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Food Protection Plan Progress Report,” in conjunction with the “Interagency Working Group on Import Safety Action Plan Update,” shows significant areas of activity to further improve the safety of America’s food supply since unveiling its Food Protection Plan in November 2007.

The improvements highlight the agency’s efforts to address domestic and global changes in our food supply to help keep consumers enjoying one of the safest food supplies in the world.

“The Food Protection Plan is the comprehensive framework the agency needs to enhance the protection of our nation's food supply,” says commissioner of Food and Drugs Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D. “Implementing the strategic approaches outlined in the plan is essential if we are to enhance our ability to respond and intervene in foodborne outbreaks. But there is much more that needs to be done. We are hopeful that Congress will support these efforts by providing the proposed new authorities that we requested in the Food Protection Plan.”

The FDA Food Protection Plan focuses on prevention, intervention (using targeted risk-based inspections and testing), and response (responding rapidly when problems are identified).

The FDA has been working collaboratively across the agency and with federal, state and local partners as well as foreign governments to execute a number of the action steps laid out by the Food Protection Plan. Listed below are select accomplishments of the plan:

Among the efforts toward prevention, the FDA is moving forward to establish an FDA presence in China by providing registration materials to the Chinese government, identifying points of contact for the China Memoranda of Agreement (MOA), and drafting the first five-year work plan. The FDA is also exploring current existing third-party certification programs, and developing ingredient, processing, and labeling standards for pet food.

In the area of intervention, the FDA is working with the New Mexico State University to develop a prototype system for improving electronic screening, using open-source intelligence, of imported products offered for entry into the U.S. The evaluation of the prototype system, PREDICT (Predictive Risk-Based Evaluation of Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting) has been completed and the final pilot evaluation document is under review.

The FDA also plans to conduct an additional 327 state contract food inspections in 2009 over the 2008 estimate.

As a response to current issues, the FDA is working with various industries to identify best practices for traceability, while collaborating with other federal agencies; state, local, tribal, and foreign governments and industry to develop the science and tools necessary to better understand the current risks of the food supply and to develop new detection technologies and improved response systems that rapidly react to food safety threats.

For further information, visit www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01856.html.
To view the Food Protection Plan, visit www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/food/plan.html.
To view the Import Safety Action Plan Update,visit www.importsafety.gov.