Agricultural Research Service Food Safety Review

Members of the ARS National Program in Food Safety (NP 108) Assessment Panel (NP108) met in Beltsville, Maryland on December 14 and 15, 2004 to conduct a retrospective evaluation of this program. This report summarizes the panel’s discussions, written assessments, and overall feedback regarding research and related program administration within NP108. An assessment of impact and relative strengths and weaknesses of research components have been included. The Committee reviewed the program as divided into four topic areas (Microbial Pathogens: Pre-Harvest; Microbial Pathogens: Post-Harvest; Mycotoxins; and Chemical Residues) and has provided an overall assessment of impact (high, medium or low) for these general areas. Specific evaluation scores are provided for each subtopic within these topic areas. Comments are based on the apparent “impact” of the research efforts. Impact was measured both by adherence to the Strategic Plan Priority Objectives, and by changes, improvements and advances made to agency policy/regulations, industry practices and food safety. Quantification of impact should not be construed as an assessment of the value of further efforts in an area; e.g., a program area with a high score for impact does not necessarily need continuation of the same efforts, and a low score does not necessarily mean that continued funding is not warranted. In some cases, a low impact represented failure by a research leader to focus on the Priority Objective; in some cases, it meant that it is justifiably too soon in the timeline of this research for this objective to be effectively implemented and have impact. However, this review should be helpful to the panel that develops the next 5 year Strategic Plan.