This week, the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) received a significant cooperative agreement from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collaborate with governmental environmental health programs across state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in the United States. This partnership aims to bolster regulatory practices in retail food safety and marks the beginning of the second three-year funding cycle for the initiative.
Dr. David Dyjack, NEHA’s CEO, expressed gratitude for the award, stating, “We are honored to lead this transformative program to improve food safety. Receiving this award reflects the dedication of our team, governmental retail food safety professionals, and the collective outcomes of our first three-year grant cycle.”
The grant program is intended to help jurisdictions align their retail food safety practices with the FDA’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, a crucial step for advancing food safety measures.
The NEHA model consolidates three previous grant programs into one, allowing for greater flexibility and responsiveness based on each jurisdiction’s specific needs and goals. During the first three-year cycle, the initiative provided nearly $25 million to 375 unique jurisdictions across 46 states, aimed at enhancing retail food safety practices and protecting communities from foodborne illnesses.
This FDA award is the second major federal cooperative agreement NEHA has secured in 2024, following a competitive five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded in July, which focuses on enhancing the knowledge and skills of the environmental public health workforce.
Dr. Dyjack remarked, “These investments demonstrate the trust federal agencies have in NEHA’s ability to partner and collaborate with state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions to bring about profound public health improvements.”
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