[QA Online Extra] Food Defense Tools

You have a pretty good food defense plan in place…or so you thought until you read “Changes and Challenges” and realized that:

• your plan is based on general assumptions, not the assessment of specific vulnerabilities
• it was quite thorough when it was developed, but you have no idea when it was last reviewed.
• your plant is protected from the outside, but you never thought that much about employee threats.
• to be honest, you just never quite got around to developing a defense plan for your plant.

If the security at your plant needs an overhaul for any reason, it’s a good time to put it at the top of your priority list. Not only because a good defense is the best offense, but because there are plenty of educational resources to help in your endeavor.

FPA Food Producers, Processors, and Transporters: Food Security Preventive Measures Guidance 

Designed as an aid for food producers, processors and distributors, the guidance identifies the kinds of preventive measures operators may take to minimize the risk of food under their control through tampering or other malicious, criminal or terrorist actions. It is relevant to all sectors of the food system, including farms, aquaculture facilities, fishing vessels, producers, transportation operations, processing facilities, packing facilities and warehouses.

FDA Food Defense and Terrorism Training Materials and Announcements

This FDA Web page includes online training resources, information on Web-based training and public workshops, and ALERT (Assure, Look, Employees, Reports, Threat) training and informational material. Links to consumer information and additional information also are available at the site.

FDA Food Defense Self Assessment Tool for Food Producers, Processors, and Transporters

A questionnaire based on the Food Security Preventive Measures Guidance document that food processors and producers can use to assess their operations in relation to FDA guidance.

FDA Food Protection Plan 

FDA has developed a comprehensive Food Protection Plan to address the changes in food sources, production and consumption faced today by industry. The plan presents a strategy to protect the nation's food supply from both unintentional contamination and deliberate attack, building in first prevention, then intervention and, finally, response. The Web page provides links to information including the Plan document, Questions & Answers, Fact Sheet and other resources.

USDA Food Defense Plan

USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) created this guide to assist plants in developing a cost-effective Food Defense Plan. The guide was developed in consultation with very small, small and large meat and poultry processing establishments to help ensure that the information is beneficial, practical and achievable. Because not all the guidance is necessarily appropriate or practical for every facility, FSIS recommends that plants review the guidance to assess those preventive measures which are most suitable, then determine the most cost-effective way to achieve food defense goals based on the plant’s situation.

USDA Industry Self-Assessment Checklist for Food Security

This self-assessment instrument was created by FSIS to provide a tool establishments can use to assess the extent to which they have secured their operations. The tool is based primarily on the food security guidelines FSIS published in 2002: Food Security Guidelines for Food Processors.

FDA CARVER + Shock tool

Federal agencies, FDA and FSIS have used the CARVER + Shock method to evaluate the potential vulnerabilities of farm-to-table supply chains of various food commodities, as well as individual facilities or processes. Because face-to-face CARVER + Shock evaluations are resource- and time-intensive, the FDA has sponsored development of CARVER + Shock software that can be downloaded at no charge. With online CARVER + Shock software, members of the food processing industry can conduct vulnerability assessments of their facilities and processes completely and confidentially.

Food Protection Education (FPE)

A collaborative partnership within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense, FPE provides resources to enhance the nation’s ability to prevent and cope with incidences of intentional food contamination. FPE includes an online resource database that provides links to more than 250 educational and informational resources on food protection including “Food Defense Education: Post 9/11,” which, published in August 2007, details viewpoints and strategies for the education and training of those with food defense roles and responsibilities.

Note: Because this site was developed as a result of a three-year educational research project for which funding is no longer available, some links on this site may no longer be active. FPE is, however, seeking another agency or researcher to continue the project.

AIB Food Defense Resource Center

AIB’s online food defense center includes free resources such as newsletters, articles, posters and a Food Security Guidelines document, as well as a Food Defense Plan template (available for purchase). The template is designed to help plants meet government- and customer-imposed requirements and develop a Food Defense Plan that incorporates the specific physical and procedural needs of the facility. The electronic template allows users create a tailored, detailed plan.

National Infrastructure Protection Plan — Sector Specific

The sector-specific protection plan for food and agriculture infrastructure and resources is designed to focus on planning and preparedness, as well as early awareness of an attack, with the over-arching National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) providing the unifying structure for the integration of Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource (CI/KR) protection efforts into a single national program. The cornerstone of the NIPP is its risk management framework.

The author is Staff Editor of QA magazine.