Agriculture

Dairy and Food Inspection Division

http://www.mda.state.mn.us/about/divisions/dairyfood.aspx

Statewide Outcome(s):

The Dairy and Food Division supports the following statewide outcome(s).

A thriving economy that encourages business growth and employment opportunities.

Minnesotans are healthy.

People in Minnesota are safe.

Context:

The purpose of the Dairy and Food Inspection Division Program (DFID) is to ensure the integrity the food supply in Minnesota and to heighten awareness of proper biosecurity and food safety practices. The integrity of the food supply is intact when Minnesotans are confident the food and feed they buy is safe, regardless of where in Minnesota it is purchased. Integrity of the food supply also means that food and feed producers know that a fair, consistent system of regulatory enforcement is in place, and that this system provides them access to markets worldwide. The term “food supply” includes animal feed, dairy products, food products, meat, shell eggs, and poultry.

The primary beneficiaries of DFID’s work include the general public, the food processing industry, dairy producers and processors, rural meat processors, poultry processors, and dairy/food/feed companies wishing to export their products. On a day-to-day basis, DFID inspectors work with dairy farmers, rural meat processors, grocery store operators and food/feed facility operators to bring their operations into compliance with food safety laws and practices.

Within the DFID, the Rapid Response Team investigates food safety problems caused by foodborne illness outbreaks, as well as problems at food or feed processing facilities. This team is made up of technical experts in food manufacturing, food inspection, microbiology and epidemiology. Members of the Rapid Response Team work closely with the epidemiologists at the Minnesota Department of Health.

The division’s funding breakout is roughly 43 percent general fund appropriations, 46 percent fee-generated revenue, and 11 percent federal funds via contracts with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Strategies:

DFID conducts inspections and verification sampling to ensure that producers, processors, wholesalers, salvers, haulers, grocery stores, convenience stores and other industry workers are 1) producing and handling dairy, food, meat and feed products safely, and 2) preventing adulteration and contamination of food and feed products.

Recently the DFID renewed its focus on a risk-based inspection system for food processing facilities, with the goal of focusing on facilities at the highest risk for food safety issues. The timing goal of this new system is to have high-, medium- and low-risk facilities inspected every 12, 18 and 24 months, respectively, with a goal of 100 percent, 90 percent, and 80 percent completion, respectively. Thus, facilities that are in compliance and therefore low-risk will be inspected less frequently than high-risk facilities. Under this new system, inspectors will be able to spend more time working with high-risk facilities. Overall, this risk-based model will better ensure food safety and food security, and thus support overall statewide health and safety outcomes.

DFID contributes to a thriving economy by giving Minnesota’s food industry the assurance of fairly enforced, scientifically sound food safety standards. This assurance provides strong “quality” branding to Minnesota companies’ food and feed products, which in turn allows these companies to access markets globally.

Key DFID partners include the Minnesota Department of Health, with whom DFID works closely during outbreak investigations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and associations within the food, feed, dairy, and meat industries.

Results:

Results are measured differently for the division’s four main program areas of dairy, food, feed and meat. The division’s Dairy Program is routinely audited and inspected by outside entities (Interstate Milk Shipment program, the FDA and the USDA). Performance measures for staff are based on audit program results and routine inspection activity data. Results for DFID’s Food Program are measured by the number of routine inspections completed per FTE per year, see detail below.

For DFID’s Feed Program, national standards are in the process of development. These standards will cover feed facility inspection frequency and feed inspection workload/ FTE. Once these new national standards are developed, likely within a year, new performance measures for DFID will be created. DFID’s Meat Program routinely assesses its performance to ensure program objectives are met. These assessments are regularly reported to USDA as a condition of ongoing federal funding.

Performance Measures	Previous	Current	Trend
Farm inspections passing Interstate Milk Survey audits	100%	100%	Stable
Food safety audits with a Notice of Intended Enforcement or Immediate Suspension	21%	7%	Improving
Inspection Rate of high-risk food processing facilities	55%	70%	Improving
Number of routine food inspections per active FTE	323	290	Improving

Performance Measures Notes:

Farm inspections passing Interstate Milk Survey audits: “Previous” is second half of FY 2011. “Current” is FY 2012. The Interstate Milk Survey is a federally-required audit of dairy producers whose milk is shipped across state lines. To learn more about MDA role on dairy farms, see http://www.mda.state.mn.us/about/divisions/dairyfood.aspx.

Food safety audits with notice or suspension: The goal is less than five percent of food safety audits with Notice of Intended Enforcement or Immediate Suspension. “Previous” is FY 2012. “Current” is FY 2013. For more detail on food safety efforts, see http://www.mda.state.mn.us/food/safety.aspx.

Inspection rate of high-risk food processing facilities: “Previous” is FY 2012. “Current” is FY 2013. Goal is 100 percent. One-time funding for two new inspectors was provided in the FY 2012- 2013 biennium. After an 18-month training period, these two new staff will begin inspecting facilities during the second half of FY 2013. For more information on the Minnesota Food Code, see http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/code/index.html.

Number of routine food inspections per FTE that exceed federal guideline: Goal and federal guideline is 210/FTE. “Previous” is FY 2012. “Current” is FY13. Federal guidelines seek to ensure that sufficient time is spent on the routine, core inspection activities, which do not include: re-inspections, complaint investigations, outbreak investigations, compliance follow-up inspections, risk assessment reviews, process reviews, variance process reviews, on-site training, or advisory inspections. Compliance with the FDA guideline of 210 routine food inspections per FTE per year will ensure that inspectors have sufficient time to complete the educational component of the inspection process.