Innovative Food Defense Initiatives

Joseph Reardon

Food Administrator

Food and Drug Protection Division

North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

Importance of Food Defense

• The former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said, “For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to

do.” Food SafetyFood Safety = = Food DefenseFood Defense

Food Safety and Defense Task Force

• Developed in 2001 including key state agencies, industry, and academia Supported by Governor Executive Order– Co-chaired by NCDA&CS and Department of Health

and Human Services– Coordinated approach to identify vulnerabilities

and safeguard food supply

• Developed Emergency Programs Division

Multi-Hazard Threat Database

• Rapid Response– Fast access to information– Strong visual and analytical capabilities

• Risk Assessment– Estimate rates of spread or progression– Establish specific mitigation/protection

plans

Benefits of Utilizing GIS Multi-Hazard Database (MHDB)

• Improved Management Capabilities– Real-time management of incident– Determine and locate required resources– Improve planning/response capabilities– Facilitate develop recovery plans– Available for federal response needs

Emergency Notification Capabilities of GIS-MHDB

Incident Command Teams

• Food and Drug Incident Management Teams Goal: Establish basic response skills

• Incident action plan• Situational Report• Task Tracker• Public Information (JIC)

“Highwater” Exercise

• ICS Teams must resolve injects:– Employee availability– Farmers requesting on-site visits for embargoes– Wrecks involving transporting of food– Complaint calls from citizens– Retailers selling adulterated food

• Exercise identified gaps in preparedness policy and needed resources

Future Initiative

• Food Defense – Food defense must be conducted at the state

level• State should pilot specific plans

– Develop relationships with other state government agencies, federal agencies, and industry for data sharing

– Identify food and agriculture vulnerabilities • Link data to GIS and MHTD

Conclusion• ODP funding requires shift from population based to

agriculture based• Federal funding needed on multi-year basis for state

programs– Over 80% of food security work including inspections,

investigation of complaints, and enforcement actions performed at state and local level

– Direct financial support required for state departments and laboratories responsible for food safety/defense