IFSAC Collaborations

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Provide FDA with data and expertise in support of FDA’s efforts to determine the significance of specific foodborne pathogens to address agency obligations under Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 104(a)

  • Objective: Collaborate with FDA to review analytical methods for estimating costs related to illness, hospitalization, and death, as well as quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs) for pathogens in foods that FDA regulates.
  • Outcome: IFSAC team members provided attribution data as well as input on methods and study results that were the basis of cost estimates for illnesses associated with pathogens in FDA-regulated foods. These data and input are being included in FDA work to determine the foodborne pathogens having the greatest impact on public health.

Develop a shared understanding and statement of needs for foodborne illness source attribution with the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC)

  • Objective: Conduct series of seminars and a capstone workshop co-sponsored by IFSAC and the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC) on:
    • Improving the quality of information for risk-based decision-making by regulatory agencies.
    • Advancing a collaborative use of epidemiological and risk assessment methods for improving food-safety decision-making.
  • Outcome: Seminars provided data on: 1) epidemiological methods for identifying risk factors and other influences on the population’s health; and, 2) risk-assessment methods for estimating the likelihood that illness results from a specific hazard. Using this information, IFSAC and IRAC participants created an interim report on possible collaborative analyses that apply combined approaches to improve information needed for food safety decision-making.

Support FDA’s pathogen prioritization efforts through preliminary analyses of foodborne outbreaks for food source attribution.

  • Objective: Using the IFSAC statistical model for outbreak-derived foodborne illness source attribution, develop preliminary attribution estimates for microbial hazards of concern to FDA beyond the four priority pathogens.
  • Outcome: IFSAC team members provided preliminary attribution fraction estimates to FDA, to be utilized with other data in pathogen risk prioritization efforts.