Advancing the Kansas Department of Agriculture's progress with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards through a Cooperative Agreement.

Kansas State Department Of Agriculture, Topeka KS

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Lodging Program (KDA-FSL) promotes food safety by establishing food protection standards, investigating complaints, educating food businesses and consumers, and licensing and inspecting food businesses. KDA-FSL has been enrolled in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) since 2009. Continuing this cooperative agreement will allow our program to strive for full conformance with VNRFRPS. With continued funding and support from the FDA, KDA-FSL will further enhance our policies and procedures, learning management systems, continue developing a uniform inspection program, develop a compliance and enforcement program, develop a baseline for completing a Risk Factor Study, and further the education of our inspection staff through FDA trainings. Through routine self-assessment, quarterly meetings, completion of mid-year and annual performance reports, and annually reviewing and updating our strategic plan, KDA-FSL will be able to assess our progress and refocus our work as applicable, so that at the end of this cooperative agreement, KDA-FSL will have completed the goals of the project. Goals that our program has set for this cooperative agreement include: ? Develop Standard Four Uniform Inspection Program ? Further develop Standard Five policies and procedures ? Develop Standard Six Compliance and Enforcement Program ? Enhance Standard Seven through continued work with our Food Safety Task Force ? Establish a baseline metric and complete a Risk Factor Study