California Animal Food Regulatory Program Standards Maintenance

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (OVERALL) The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) works to ensure the safety of the food and feed supply through effective prevention, intervention, and response programs. Within CDFA, the Commercial Feed Regulatory Program (CFRP) is responsible for the enforcement of California state law and regulations pertaining to the manufacturing, distribution and labeling of commercial livestock feed while preventing adulterated feed from being consumed by livestock. The overall goal of this proposal is to advance the development of a nationally integrated food safety system through participation in the Animal Food Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) Maintenance Phase Track. CFRP has been an active participant in the AFRPS since its inception in 2015 and was officially certified as fully implemented in February 2024. Participation in the AFRPS has enabled CFRP to strengthen its already robust inspection and enforcement programs, industry education and training programs, and feed emergency response programs, while also implementing program assessment and accountability measures. This project will enable CFRP to continue this successful collaboration with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other state animal food regulatory programs and meaningfully contribute to the continuous improvement of the AFRPS, including participation in national meetings, providing sampling and follow-up support for the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) agreement, and maintenance of a state auditing program that meets SMG-8076 audit requirements. Long-term objectives include strengthened information sharing and interagency collaboration and increased high-quality comprehensive inspections/investigations to reduce the incidence of animal feed contamination and associated foodborne illness.