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ARF- 2838

Consent Agenda Item 3. J.

Regular BOS Meeting

Meeting Date:	11/18/2014
Submitted For:	Michael O'Driscoll
Submitted By:	Lauren Savaglio, Environmental Health Manager, Health & Emergency Services Division
Department:	Health & Emergency Management	Division:	Health Services
Fiscal Year:	2014-2015	Budgeted?:	No
Contract Dates Begin & End:	12/01/2014-11/30/2015	Grant?:	Yes
Matching Requirement?:	No	Fund?:	New

Information

Request/Subject

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Year 2 Retail Program Standards Grant Application for a Risk Factor Study

Background Information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) have made available to the Gila County Division of Health & Emergency Services (GCDHES) a grant in the amount of $17,934.47 for completion of projects to enhance conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Food Standards), in which GCDHES is enrolled. This funding will directly address Standard 9: Program Assessment. Standard 9 requires a risk factor study, which is designed to assess food safety procedures and practices in different types of food service and retail food store operations. The risk factor study will give quantitative measurements upon which to assess the trends of occurrence of food borne illness in Gila County (GC). This will allow for GC to tailor fit preventative actions and interventions to prevent food borne illness. GCDHES recently began using a revised food inspection form, which will act as the data collection form for marking actual observations of food practices within an establishment. The focus areas of the study will be: 1) food sources, 2) holding/time and temperature, 3) cooking methods, 4) personal hygiene, and 5) contamination of equipment, surfaces, and food.

Evaluation

The goal of the grant is to fund projects that ensure conformance with the Retail Program Standards, which have the goals to reduce food safety hazards and risks in retail and food service facilities. A risk factor study is designed to assess food safety procedures and practices, which would then allow GCDHES to focus prevention activities and interventions on areas that would make the most impact reducing food borne illness.

If granted the funding, GCDHES would conduct the study during a 12-month period, which would include designing the study, data collection, and data analysis, which would include a plan for future trend analysis and tracking, and a plan for prevention activities and interventions.

The grant application was electronically submitted on October 8th in order to meet the October 10th deadline.

Conclusion

This grant funding will allow the GCDHES to develop a risk based study that will satisfy Standard 9 of the Retail Food Standards, and will assess food safety procedures and practices in different types of food service and retail food store operations, and food safety trends in GC, which will allow for proper preventative activities and interventions to reduce food borne illness.

Recommendation

The Gila County Division of Health and Emergency Services Director recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve the submission of a grant application to reduce food safety risks and thus reduce food borne illness for Gila County residents.

Suggested Motion

Approval of the Health and Emergency Services Division's submission of a grant application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Year 2 Retail Food Standards Grant Program in the amount of $17,934.47 to pursue funding for a risk-based study.

Attachments
Grant Application