Accomplishments

A few of Commissioner Troxler’s key accomplishments in the area of food safety are spelled out in detail below, but a summary would most certainly include:
w Securing leadership positions in major organizations that influence food
      regulation policy on a regional and national level
w Recruiting, retaining, and providing some of the strongest food safety  
      leadership in the country
w Creation and hosting of the annual AgFIRST! Conference
w Addressing prominent food safety threats as outlined below
w Enhancing our state’s surveillance programs as well as our testing
      capabilities, part of which led to NC’s selection as a pilot state for the new
      FDA Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards
w Securing $2.4 million in Federal Grant Monies for Food Safety 
      and Defense
w Expanding Laboratory Capabilities as outlined below, which increases 
      the state’s responsiveness to food safety threats
w Community Outreach, including outreach to the Hispanic community
w Incident Command Systems [ICS]  training for employees
w Neutral Detergent Fiber Testing in feed and forage for NC farmers
w Hosting a Drought Conference during the drought of 2007, as the drought
      presented food safety risks because of potential toxins in products fed to
      livestock and because of its threat to water supplies for agribusiness/food
      processing operations
 

Leadership Positions -  State, Regional and National Food Protection Organizations

Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler or his designee serve in the following key roles:
w National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Chair, Food
      Safety Committee  (also known as the National Food Regulation and
      Nutrition Committee) 
w Association of Food & Drug Officials, Vice-President
w Association of Food & Drug Officials Southern Section, President ,
      Vice-President , and future Jr. Board Member
w NC Food Safety & Defense Task Force, Co-Chair
 

Nationally Recognized Food Safety & Defense Expertise

Representatives of the Department’s Food & Drug Protection Division have participated in the following activities since Mr. Troxler became the Commissioner:
w Congressional testimony before the House Committee of the Homeland
      Security Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack on
      the safety of our food supply
w Testimony provided to the NC Agriculture and Forestry Subcommittee
w Presented to the American Bar Association
 

Major Issues Addressed

Enhancements to our Programs

Enhancements to the Programs of the Department’s Food Safety Programs include:
w Risk-based Retail Food Surveillance Program
w Surveillance sampling of imported fish for antibiotic testing
w Surveillance sampling of imported cheese for pathogen testing
w Surveillance sampling of imported  juice for pesticide
w New Technology Equipment for State Food  Laboratory
w Installation of Laboratory Information Management System for 
      managing samples and data
w Online registration for drug renewal
w ISO 17025 Laboratory Accreditation

FDA Commissioners Special Citation

In 2008, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its work last year to remove potentially harmful food from shelves across the state during the Castleberry recall. The department was nominated for the award by FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs recognizing its prompt, organized and effective response to protect citizens of North Carolina and collaboration with FDA . The department received a Special Citation from FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach during the federal agency’s annual Honor Awards Ceremony in Washington , D.C.

AgFIRST!

In August of  2008 NCDA&CS held the 4^th annual AgFIRST! with over 350 in attendance covering critical food protection issues and our significant role in protecting the food supply.  A safe food supply is critical not only to public health, but also for North Carolina ’s economy.  Attendees from the Congressional delegation included Senator Burr, Senator Dole, Congressman Coble, Congressman Jones and Congressman Miller. The keynote speakers included Dr. David Acheson, FDA Commissioner of Food Protection, and Shaun Kennedy, Director of the National Center of Excellence for Food Safety and Defense.  The annual AgFIRST! provides both an excellent educational and networking opportunity for industry, partnering regulatory agencies, public health officials, emergency management and other professionals.

NC Food Safety & Defense Task Force

NCDA&CS has been an active member of this task force since its inception in 2002 by a Governor’s Executive Order. This interagency task force consists of food protection experts from the farm to fork continuum including industry, regulators, public health, associations, academia, law enforcement and emergency management.  NCDA&CS co-chairs the bimonthly meetings and currently an NCDA&CS employee serves as secretary. This task force, with the assistance of NCDA&CS staff, wrote the NC Food Emergency Response Plan, Crop Emergency Response Plan, and Livestock Emergency Response Plan for inclusion in North Carolina ’s emergency response plan. The task force was instrumental in North Carolina ’s response to the Castleberry recall and is now developing a training and exercise schedule to enhance North Carolina ’s ability for early detection, rapid response and swift recovery from any emergency affecting the food supply.  NCDA&CS staff chair or serve on several sub-committees including the Executive, Recall Enhancement, and Exercise and Training sub-committees. During the 2007 drought the task force held an educational conference for industry to understand the implications of water restrictions on their business and how to minimize the impact. 

NC Fresh Produce Task Force

NCDA&CS is an active member of the NC Fresh Produce Task Force which began in 2007 to enhance the safety and economic viability of NC’s fresh product industry.  In 2008 the task force presented to the Forestry and Agriculture Sub-committee on the issues facing farmers and the fresh produce industry.  National outbreaks linked to fresh produce [E. Coli and spinach, Salmonella and tomatoes/peppers, Salmonella and cantaloupe] destroy entire markets and industries.  The task force has received multiple grants to develop training modules to educate farmers on Good Agricultural Practices [GAPs] and to conduct research to minimize the occurrence of contamination.  The task force is also actively developing a communication network of farmers and agribusiness leaders for rapid information dissemination during any fresh product outbreak.

Incident Management Teams - ICS Training

The Incident Command System [ICS] is the national standard for emergency management and is utilized to manage all emergencies in NCDA&CS.  Incident Management Teams have a unique combination of advanced ICS and food regulatory training and demonostrated event management capabilities.   In September 2008, executive FDA staff visited with the Food & Drug Protection Division to learn how to use ICS and technology to effectively manage an incident.  In addition, all food regulatory officials received basic ICS training to facilitate use of the ICS principles in any emergency response. 

$2.4 Federal Grant Monies for Food Safety and Defense

During 2008, $2.4 million have been awarded to the NCDA&CS Food & Drug Protection Division  to enhance the oversight of animal feed manufacturers to prevent BSE, improve the ability to detect staphylococcus enterotoxin in multiple food matrices, and to develop a rapid response team and infrastructure necessary to rapidly respond to any threat to human food and animal feed supplies.

Risk-Based Retail Food Surveillance Program

The risk-based retail food surveillance program has resulted in multiple recalls to remove unsafe products from the market place to protect public health.  Foods, such as fruits, juices, vegetables,  bagged salads, seafood, peanut butter, and candy have been tested for pathogens, allergens, pesticides and lead.   Toothpaste, tested for diethylene glycol, was removed from distribution. 

Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards

The NCDA Food & Drug Protection Division was one of five states to pilot this new FDA program which establishes a uniform foundation for the design and management of State programs responsible for the regulation of food plants. The standards establish critical elements of a regulatory program designed to protect the public from foodborne illness and injury. 

FDA Contracts for Inspections and Sampling

Monies awarded through annual FDA Contracts continue to increase.  The NCDA&CS Food & Drug Protection Division Food Program contract increased from $200,000  in 2007-08  to $288,000 in  2008-09.  These monies support the inspection and sampling at approximately 7000 sites in NC. The Feed Program contract increased from $58,000 in 2007-08  to  $77,000 in 2008-09. These monies support the inspection and sampling at approximately 3500 sites in NC.

Animal Health Support through Forage Testing

During the 2007 drought there was a 75% increase, over previous years,  in the number of samples tested under the voluntary forage testing program to protect animal health. The laboratory offers free nitrate and aflatoxin testing, the two most prevalent issues during a drought.   Testing provided valuable information to protect farmers and livestock. A collaborative effort with NCDA&CS and NCSU resulted in rapid analysis and immediate notification of laboratory results.  Additionally, the Feed Program and laboratory worked with NCSU and farmers to add non-digestible fiber [NDF] and non-structural carbohydrates [NSC] to the forage testing program to assist farmers with nutritional profiles for rations.

Online registration for Drug Renewal

To better serve all firms engaged in the manufacturing or distribution of prescription drugs within the state of NC, the Food & Drug Protection Division initiated an email program in the fall of 2006 to notify all constituents of their upcoming renewal.  This expedited communications and reduced the overall expense associated with renewal notification.  The program further assisted the industry as well as the pharmacy industry by creating an on-line verification of all suppliers.

Drugs – Counterfeit and Black Market

Working with the wholesale industry in NC to explore means of reducing the opportunity of counterfeit or black market prescription drugs from entering our markets. 

According to a 2002 Performance Review of North Carolina ’s Food Safety System, “a lack of technological resources and antiquated laboratory equipment could adversely impact the food safety program”.  

Investment in new laboratory equipment in the past 48 months has dramatically changed the capability and capacity of the laboratory.  A 75% reduction in analysis turnaround time has been realized in some critical laboratory testing. Reduced testing turnaround is significant to protecting the consumer as well as our food industry that may be holding products pending analysis. 

Expanded Laboratory Capabilities

Purchases of new technology for laboratory testing has enabled the Food & Drug Protection Division to greatly improve its ability to provide detection of chemical toxins in support of our role in food safety, food defense and law enforcement cases.  Instruments such as the LC/MS/MS Triple Quadrupole, obtained with Homeland Security funding,  and LC/MS Time of Flight allow detection of thousands of analytes at increasingly lower detection limits. This is especially useful in testing for pesticide residues, illegal drugs, and antibiotics.

ISO 17025 Laboratory Accreditation

The State Food Laboratory has completed the implementation of a Quality Management System and will be applying for ISO 17025 accreditation in 2008. Accreditation verifies the presence of laboratory procedures to ensure data is accurate, traceable and defensible.  Additionally, accreditation provides equivalency with Federal FDA and USDA-FSIS laboratories.   This equivalency is critical in that it allows the Federal agencies to use data from our state lab for consumer protection, regulatory enforcement and to minimize economic disruption to the food supply. 

Outreach

Germ City   - Our fun and educational way to teach children of all ages about proper hand washing
                         techniques, has reached or 55,000 children and adults.
Food Safety Month – Each year, special efforts are made to educate consumers of all ages on 
                        food safety.  In 2008 the Food & Drug Protection Division is hosted a coloring contest and
                        essay contest for elementary students, provided fresh produce safe-handling sheets to all
                        State Farmer’s Market vendors, and partnered with major food retailers to provide food
                        safety information via the Internet.
Food Safety Websites – Information is provided in English and Spanish for children and adults 
                        on NCDA&CS web sites.
Bilingual Publications – News articles are published weekly in every Spanish newspaper in 
                        NC promoting food safety.
Bilingual Radio and TV spots -  Interviews and National Public Service Announcements on food 
                        safety are aired on Spanish radio and TV stations.
Development of Spanish educational material – Educational materials such as children’s coloring
                        and activity sheets, adult food safety fact sheets, promotional supplies are done in 
                        both English and Spanish.