Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Alliance (U18)

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The goal of the FDA/ORA's Cooperative Agreement Program is to facilitate long-term improvements to the national food safety system by strengthening interagency collaboration, improving States' regulatory and surveillance protection programs for manufactured foods, conducting research, and promotion of the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS). The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) gave FDA a new public health mandate. The law applies to human food as well as to food for animals, including pets. It directed FDA to establish standards for adoption of modern food safety prevention practices by those who grow, process, transport, and store food. Congress recognized that the more than 3,000 state, local, and tribal government agencies involved in food safety which must be fully integrated in FDA’s work to fulfill FSMA’s mandate that consumers be protected by a food safety system based on prevention and risk. This National Integrated Food Safety System will ensure the quality, consistency, and effectiveness of local, state, and federal efforts to protect the food supply. Effective leveraging of resources and harmonization of efforts will require collaboration with relevant initiatives, including those of federal partners, national initiatives and associations, state, and local partners. This will be accomplished through the provision of funding and will require extensive cooperation and coordination with FDA, national organizations and initiatives, State and local regulatory programs, and other food safety stakeholders. The Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) establish a uniform foundation for the design and management of State programs responsible for the regulation of food plants. The elements of the program standards describe best practices of a high-quality regulatory program. Conformance with these program standards will help Federal and State agencies better direct their regulatory activities at reducing foodborne illness hazards in plants that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods.

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