[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 81 (Monday, April 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23360-23361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09501]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. FDA-2014-N-0411]
Cooperative Agreement To Support the Illinois Institute of
Technology's National Center for Food Safety and Technology
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the
availability of grant funds for a cooperative agreement in support of
the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), which supports the National
Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST). The estimated amount of
support in Fiscal Year (FY) 14 will be for up to $5 million (direct
plus indirect costs), with the possibility of 4 additional years of
support for up to $20 million, subject to the availability of funds.
This award will improve public health by continued support of an
applied research, education, and outreach program related to the safety
of food processing technologies and processed foods.
DATES: Important dates are as follows:
1. The application due date is June 3, 2014.
2. The anticipated start date is September 2014.
3. The opening date is May 3, 2014.
4. The expiration date is June 4, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit the original paper application to Gladys Melendez
(Bohler) and a copy to Mickey Parish at the following addresses: Mickey
Parish, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy., HFS-300, Rm. 3A-
0264, College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-1728, [email protected];
and Gladys Melendez (Bohler), Division of State Acquisitions,
Agreements and Grants, Food and Drug Administration, (HFA-500), 5630
Fishers Lane, Rm. 2032, Rockville, MD 20857, 240-731-3905,
[email protected].
For more information on this funding opportunity announcement (FOA)
and to obtain detailed requirements, please refer to the full FOA
located at http://www.fda.gov/food/newsevents/default.htm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-FD-1-005.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.103
A. Background
FDA has supported the NCFST under six previously awarded
cooperative agreements (53 FR 15736; 56 FR 46189; 59 FR 24703; 64 FR
39512; 69 FR 25405; and 74 FR 26408). NCFST was established by IIT to
bring together the food safety and technology expertise of academia,
industry, and FDA for the purpose of supporting research and outreach
efforts related to the safety of foods based on a common goal of
enhancing the safety of the food supply for U.S. consumers. NCFST has
been successful in developing research programs, such as those related
to low-moisture foods, and outreach programs, such as those related to
sprout safety; these successes were achieved as a result of NCFST
partnering with industry, academia, and FDA.
NCFST is structured so that representatives of participating
organizations play a role in establishing policy and administrative
procedures, as well as identifying long- and short-term research needs.
With this organizational structure, NCFST is able to build cooperative
food safety programs on a foundation of knowledge about current
industrial trends in food processing and packaging technologies,
regulatory perspectives from public health organizations, and
fundamental scientific expertise from academia. This award will improve
public health by continued support of an applied research, education,
and outreach program related to the safety of food processing
technologies and processed foods.
B. Research Objectives
FDA recognizes that food production and processing technology is
rapidly changing, that globalization of the food supply is increasing,
and that the number and nature of the hazards associated with foods is
rapidly evolving. FDA intends to maintain and facilitate the further
development of NCFST for the purpose of enhancing food safety to
benefit the public. NCFST is uniquely positioned as a key component of
FDA's food protection program. Specifically, through the Center's
science platforms the research at NCFST focuses on the development and
validation of food processing and packaging technologies for safety and
quality; investigation and development of preventive technologies
targeted to reduce or eliminate harmful chemical and microbial
contamination of foods, and laboratory method performance (including
method validation) to address issues associated with FDA-regulated
products. Additionally the development of an integrated collaborative
food protection research/education/outreach program will provide
fundamental food safety information, in the public domain, for use by
all segments of the food science community in product and process
development, regulatory activities, academic programs, and consumer
programs.
C. Eligibility Information
Competition is limited to the Illinois Institute of Technology. FDA
believes that continued support of NCFST at IIT is appropriate because
IIT is uniquely qualified to fulfill the objectives of the proposed
cooperative agreement. IIT's Moffett Center, where NCFST is located, is
a unique research facility that includes an industrial-size pilot plant
and smaller pilot plants for food processing and packaging equipment, a
pathogen containment pilot plant, a packaging laboratory, analytical
laboratories, offices, containment facilities, classrooms, a distance
learning center, and support facilities, which permit research from
bench top to industrial scale. The industrial-size pilot plant is built
to accommodate routine food processing and packaging research in a
commercial atmosphere. The physical layout of the facility provides
maximum versatility in the use and arrangement of equipment of both
commercial and pilot size, and in the capability to simultaneously
operate several different pieces of equipment without interference with
each other. Additionally, NCFST has a Biosafety Level 3 pilot plant and
laboratory, as well as a select agent laboratory to conduct studies
with Clostridium botulinum and other select agents.
Since 1988, IIT has provided an environment in which scientists
from diverse backgrounds such as academia, government, and industry
have brought their unique perspectives to focus on contemporary issues
of food safety. NCFST functions as a neutral ground where scientific
exchange about generic food safety issues occurs freely and is
channeled into the design of cooperative food safety programs. NCFST
has become a center of cutting edge technologies, such as high pressure
processing, cold plasma processing, pulsed electric field processing,
pulsed light processing, high power ultrasound processing, microwave
processing, and
[[Page 23361]]
ultraviolet light processing. Additional research at NCFST is focused
on multiple areas associated with food safety, including but not
limited to, validating cleaning processes to reduce allergen cross
contact; research on effective cleaning and sanitizing processes for
contaminated nut butter lines; research on the effectiveness of post-
harvest risk mitigation strategies for processing fresh produce;
research on detection and recovery of viruses in foods; validating
processes for C. botulinum control; and applications of nanotechnology.
This cooperative research will fill existing gaps in knowledge and
expertise associated with improving the safety of foods and will
provide fundamental food safety information in the public domain for
use by all segments of the food science community in product and
process development, regulatory activities, academic programs, and
consumer programs. A particular use of the research data by both
industry and public health agencies is in development of the scientific
basis for preventive control programs. Food manufacturers will use the
information in the design of preventive control programs for use in
their plants to reduce or eliminate food safety hazards before they
occur and enhance the safety of the final product. Public health
agencies can design investigational techniques to appropriately target
food safety systems used by those who manufacture, process, pack, or
hold food.
In addition, IIT is the coordinator of the Food Safety Preventive
Controls Alliance and the Sprouts Safety Alliance, leveraging the
expertise of academia, industry, and FDA for the purpose of developing
and delivering standardized curricula related to FDA Food Safety
Modernization Act requirements. In addition to training, these
Alliances will provide outreach and technical assistance to industry in
the future.
While not a component of the cooperative agreement, an integral
part of the NCFST cooperative research program is the ability to
leverage and provide hands-on experience in food safety for the next
generation of food safety scientists through partnering with IIT's
academic degree program in food safety and food processing sciences.
The program produces graduates with a foundation in food science and
technology with specialization in food safety. Graduates from this
program will manage quality control, safety assurance, and Hazard
Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) programs in industry. They
will design equipment and processes for use in the production and
packaging of safe food products. In the public sector, regulatory and
other public health organizations, these graduates will evaluate the
adequacy of processing and packaging parameters to produce safe end
products and they will manage regulatory and information programs
enhancing the safety of the food supply and consumer knowledge about
the food supply.
II. Award Information/Funds Available
A. Award Amount
CFSAN at FDA intends to fund one award up to $5 million for FY
2014, with the possibility of 4 additional years of support, subject to
the availability of funds. Future year amounts will depend on annual
appropriations and successful performance. This cooperative agreement
requires that the applicant share in the project costs if an award is
made, including but not limited to, partial salary support for
administrative staff and in-kind support (e.g., faculty salaries and
facilities costs).
B. Length of Support
The award will provide 1 year of support and include future
recommended support for 4 additional years, contingent upon
satisfactory performance in the achievement of project and program
reporting objectives during the preceding year and the availability of
Federal fiscal year appropriations.
III. Paper Application, Registration, and Submission Information
To submit a paper application in response to this FOA, applicants
should first review the full announcement located at http://www.fda.gov/food/newsevents/default.htm. (FDA has verified the Web site
addresses throughout this document, but FDA is not responsible for any
subsequent changes to the Web site after this document publishes in the
Federal Register.) Persons interested in applying for a grant may
obtain an application at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm For all
paper application submissions, the following steps are required:
Step 1: Obtain a Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) Number.
Step 2: Register With System for Award Management (SAM).
Step 3: Register With Electronic Research Administration
(eRA) Commons.
Steps 1 and 2, in detail, can be found at http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/organization_registration.jsp. Step 3, in detail, can be
found at https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/registration/registrationInstructions.jsp.
Dated: April 22, 2014.
Leslie Kux,
Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2014-09501 Filed 4-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-P