Contract Reports

The IFT Department of Science and Technology Projects draws on the expertise of IFT members to address food-related issues of concern. The Department identifies service projects related to food science or food technology that can be supported by extramural funds. IFT then operates under contract to fulfill the service defined by the granting agency, typically by assembling panels of experts or via grants to evaluate and assess issues in food safety or nutrition.

IFT is under contract to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to comprehensively evaluate selected areas in human health, food safety, and food processing so that FDA can develop policies based on state-of-the-art knowledge.

IFT has worked as contractors or subcontractors for other organizations as well, such as the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence.

Publicly available reports 

• Food Defense Assessment Tool
  Developed by IFT under contract with the Education Team of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, this tool should aid in the understanding of food defense issues and best practices.
  (Assessment tool)
   
• Food Defence Resource List
  Provides a list of governmental and non-governmental food defense related websites. The list was compiled to support the NCFPD contract work.
  (Resource list)
   
• Analysis and Evaluation of the Current Manufacturing and Labeling Practices Used by Food Manufacturers to Address Labeling Concerns 
  (FDA Contract, Task Order 2)
  Summary: Analysis and evaluation of Food Manufacturing Practices Used to Address Allergen Concerns. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. October 2006. A summary of labeling practices will be forthcoming. 
  (FDA report, July 2006. Many sections were based on IFT's report to CFSAN.)
   
• Evaluation and Definition of Potentially Hazardous Foods
  (publshed in IFT's Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety) 
  (Conference for Food Protection website)
    
• Analysis and Evaluation of Preventive Control Measures for the Control and Reduction/Elimination of Microbial Hazards on Fresh and Fresh-Cut Produce
  (published in IFT's Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety)
  (FDA website)
    
• Processing Parameters Needed to Control Pathogens in Cold Smoked Fish
  (published in the Journal of Food Science, pdf)
  (FDA website) 
     
• Kinetics of Microbial Inactivation for Alternative Food Processing Technologies
  (FDA website)
  

Projects Underway

• FDA/IFT Cooperative Agreement
  Risk ranking framework to evaluate potential high-threat microorganisms, toxins, and chemicals in food
    
• FDA Contract, Task Order 1
  Food Security Training: Course Development and Implementation
   
• FDA Contract, Task Order 3/4
  Development of CARVER + Shock vulnerability analysis software tool
   
• FDA Contract, Task Order 5
  CARVER + Shock assessment of a variety of product/ingredient/additive/agent combinations and analysis of potential process mitigations
    
• FDA Contract, Task Order 6
  Assess the public health risks of Bovine Spongiform Ecephalopathy and Chronic Wasting Disease associated with FDA-regulated foods and other products.
  UPDATE: This task order is complete and will be posted pending FDA review.