Development and Maintenance of Human and Animal Food Rapid Response Teams (U2F) Clinical Trials Not Allowed

This grant is intended for the development and maintenance of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) that work towards improving and innovating the national integrated food safety system. These teams will function across federal, state, and local levels for the safety of both human and animal food (HAF). Their responsibilities include unifying and coordinating emergency response efforts.

One main focus of the RRTs is to strengthen the link between epidemiology, lab, and environmental health/regulatory components. Another crucial aspect is to improve the regulatory and surveillance protection programs of the states. They will achieve this by using the principles of the Incident Command System (ICS)/National Incident Management System (NIMS) and a Unified Command structure. This includes conducting integrated responses to any potential hazard related to HAF emergencies.

Moreover, the teams will be tasked with identifying and rapidly removing contaminated food from commerce. They will also conduct an investigation of the root cause to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

In addition to these, the grant also supports other components critical to the process. These include training, data sharing and analysis, communication, continuous process improvement and the development of best practices and other resources. All these components will collectively enhance the national response capacity and capability development.

Importantly, it should be noted that clinical trials are not allowed under this grant.