USDA-NIFA provides grants to establish two regional food safety centers.

• As previously covered on this blog, FDA recently released its FSMA Training Strategy, indicating the Agency’s roadmap for facilitating industry training and thus promoting effective implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).  As part of its plan FDA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to provide grants to fund a National Coordination Center (NCC) and four Regional Centers (RCs) to provide training opportunities for owners and operators of farms, small food processors, and small fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers.
• USDA-NIFA now has announced the issuance of more than $2 million in grants to the University of Florida in Gainesville and Oregon State University in Corvallis to establish two RCs to support comprehensive food safety training and education.
• The two RC grants follow FDA’s award of the NCC grant to the International Food Protection Training Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan.  The FDA-funded NCC will coordinate the overall food safety program, while the RCs will serve at the local community level, working with FSMA stakeholders across the country.  Although full implementation likely will take some time, FDA and USDA-NIFA activities to date indicate a continuing commitment to federal partnerships aimed at promoting effective FSMA implementation.