In 2020, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Conference for Food Protection (CFP) began a collaboration on a two-year cooperative agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NACCHO-CFP grant is a part of a larger cooperative agreement effort that aligns with the purpose of the Retail Food Safety Association Collaborative (Collaborative), and focuses on two specific aims:

• Increase retail food regulatory programs’ application of risk-based inspections and implementation of effective intervention strategies; and
• Increase enrollment and active participation in and application of the Voluntary Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards by state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) retail food regulatory programs.

To advise NACCHO and CFP on the two aims, the organizations are seeking 10-15 state, local, tribal, and territorial health department professionals, retail food industry professionals, and retail food association staff to become part of a Food Safety Advisory Group (FSAG).

Minimum Expectations

Potential members are expected to:

• Serve on the group for one two-year term with the potential for serving one additional two-year term.
• Participate in five (5) virtual FSAG meetings a year and potentially one (1) in-person meeting a year (travel expenses of up to $1,400 per member will be reimbursed).

In terms of work commitments, potential recruits are expected to:

• Review and advise NACCHO and CFP on protocols and findings for an assessment of the application of risk-based inspection methods by SLTT retail food regulatory programs.
• Review and advise NACCHO and CFP on protocols and findings related to identifying, assessing, and promoting implementation of effective intervention strategies by retail food regulatory programs.
• Review and advise NACCHO and CFP on protocols and findings related to building upon the FDA’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) technical assistance strategy to provide a “multiplier effect” to promote participation and implementation of the VNRFRPS by SLTTs.
• Promote summary report and findings from the NACCHO-CFP grant activities as requested.
• Provide recommendations to NACCHO and CFP about effective methods and channels to communicate information regarding the project to various stakeholder groups involved in retail food safety.

Apply for the FSAG membership by the deadline of 5:00 PM ET on November 6, 2020.

Members will be notified of the status of their application on the week of November 16.

About the Retail Food Safety Association Collaborative (Collaborative)
Formed in 2019 after a series of discussions among the retail food regulatory associations including the Association of Food and Drug Officials, CFP, NACCHO, the National Environmental Health Association, FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Collaborative recognizes the important contributions of other retail food safety organizations and assesses opportunities to leverage their impact toward the advancement of Collaborative objectives.