Georgia Department of Agriculture - Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) Project

Project Summary / Abstract The purpose of this proposal is to improve the capacity and capability of our state laboratory to analyze human food and animal feed products in support of an integrated food safety system (IFSS). The Georgia Department of Agriculture’s (GDA) Laboratory Division will work toward this goal by submitting this application for funding of a cooperative agreement through the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM), specifically Project A1: Microbiology Human Food Product Testing, Project A3: Microbiology Animal Food Product, Project A7: Microbiology Method Development/Validation, Project A8: Microbiology Capacity/Capability Development, Project B1: Chemistry Human Food Testing, Project B2: Chemistry Animal Food Testing, Project B3: Chemistry Food Defense, Project B4: Chemistry Method Development/Validation, and Project B5: Chemistry Capacity/Capability Development. This cooperative agreement will provide the funds needed to GDA’s Laboratory Division which will enable the maintenance of current ISO/IEC 17025 accreditations, expand upon analytical analysis with the intent of increasing the scope of accreditation, collect and analyze risk-based samples while contributing to regulatory activities. These funds will support federal MFRPS and AFRPS contracts, as well as enhance collaboration between our State Regulatory Program (SRP) partners and the Laboratory for a stronger integrated food safety system. To achieve this goal, GDA will collect and analyze food and feed samples for the adulteration substances in FDA regulated products, as well as participate in method development and capacity/capability enhancement projects.