IFSAC Collaborations

Provide FDA with data and expertise in support of FDA’s efforts to determine the significance of specific foodborne pathogens to address agency obligations under Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 104(a)

• Objective: Collaborate with FDA to review analytical methods for estimating costs related to illness, hospitalization, and death, as well as quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs) for pathogens in foods that FDA regulates.
• Outcome: IFSAC team members provided attribution data as well as input on methods and study results that were the basis of cost estimates for illnesses associated with pathogens in FDA-regulated foods. These data and input are being included in FDA work to determine the foodborne pathogens having the greatest impact on public health.

Develop a shared understanding and statement of needs for foodborne illness source attribution with the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC)

• Objective: Conduct series of seminars and a capstone workshop co-sponsored by IFSAC and the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC) on:
  • Improving the quality of information for risk-based decision-making by regulatory agencies.
  • Advancing a collaborative use of epidemiological and risk assessment methods for improving food-safety decision-making.
• Outcome: Seminars provided data on: 1) epidemiological methods for identifying risk factors and other influences on the population’s health; and, 2) risk-assessment methods for estimating the likelihood that illness results from a specific hazard. Using this information, IFSAC and IRAC participants created an interim report on possible collaborative analyses that apply combined approaches to improve information needed for food safety decision-making.

Support FDA’s pathogen prioritization efforts through preliminary analyses of foodborne outbreaks for food source attribution.

• Objective: Using the IFSAC statistical model for outbreak-derived foodborne illness source attribution, develop preliminary attribution estimates for microbial hazards of concern to FDA beyond the four priority pathogens.
• Outcome: IFSAC team members provided preliminary attribution fraction estimates to FDA, to be utilized with other data in pathogen risk prioritization efforts.