Enhancing the Capacity and Capability of Human Food and Environmental Testing Laboratory at the Texas Department of State Health Services: Overall

Overall Project Summary Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (PAR-20-105) The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Laboratory Services Section (LSS) works in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the state regulatory body, DSHS Consumer Protection Division (CPD), to ensure food and food products in Texas are safe. As a part of an integrated food safety system, the goals of the LSS are to facilitate and improve food testing surveillance, inspection, and investigation in the State of Texas. With the funding provided by this grant, CPD will continue partnership with LSS by acting as the LSS sampling organization. As part of the official sampling plan, LSS will test approximately 500 samples per year under the Microbiology Human Food Product Testing track for each year within the 5-year period of the grant. During the third year, an additional 100 chemistry samples will be added to the annual sampling plan under the Chemistry Human Food Product Testing track. Although not a part of the official sampling plan, CPD will also collect 50 Radiochemistry samples annually test for the radioactive contamination along with identities of radionuclides in human food product samples. Funding provided to cover sample collection costs incurred during sample collection by CPD will only be used for costs associated with samples collected under the Human Food Product Testing tracks. LSS identifies hundreds of foodborne bacterial pathogen clusters each year by using Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and plans to annually sequence at least 400 Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and other related bacterial isolates from food and environmental samples from sources such as the FDA National Antimicrobial Resistant Monitoring System (NARMS) meat program and universities with testing and research laboratories. Currently, LSS does not perform qPCR screening for Salmonella. The outcome of this project would enhance the capacity and capabilities of LSS by making this new method available for routine surveillance testing on food/environmental samples in Texas. LSS intends to facilitate data exchanges with FDA by enhancing both data systems to enable the laboratory to submit sample analysis data via National Food Safety Data Exchange integration or ORA Partner Portal adoption allowing for more expedient decisions/actions to promote better public health.