Expansion and Maintenance of Pennsylvania's State Food and Feed Laboratory Services in response to FSMA, the Laboratory Accreditation Rule, and the FDA Integrated Food Safety System

Abstract As a large state with a population of nearly 13 million, and an economic value of 6.1 billion dollars in Pennsylvania agriculture, it is of primary importance for Pennsylvania to possess and maintain a laboratory dedicated to the analysis of food and feed products capable of producing defensible results concerning the safety and integrity of the products produced by and sold within the Commonwealth. These analytical results play a critical role in statewide and nationwide decision making for public policy production and public health protection. In 2020 the Laboratory Division of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services (“Laboratory”) began its participation in the first iteration of the FDA Laboratory Flexible Funding Model Cooperative Agreement (LFFM) with the primary goal of improving testing capability and capacity for human and animal food contaminants while expanding the Laboratory’s methodologies under its ISO 17025:2017 accreditation scope. In 2025 the Laboratory intends to apply for the second iteration of the FDA LFFM Cooperative Agreement with a focus on contribution to a national food safety preventative approach through routine surveillance, further enhancement of the Laboratory’s capacity and capability for product testing, and maintenance of the Laboratory’s emergency response and preparedness. PDA’s participation in the cooperative agreement will align with the FDA’s goal to equip state partner laboratories with additional resources to build state food laboratory testing capacity, ultimately, strengthening FDA’s efforts to prevent foodborne illness nationally through an integrated food safety laboratory network.