The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed legislation that includes $1 million for The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) to train state and local food safety inspectors, according to a statement by the institute.
IFPTI is the nation's only organization delivering career-spanning, certified food protection training to state, local, tribal and territorial food protection professionals on a cost-reimbursement basis. The specific aims for this training are to build capacity and assure competency within state food protection agencies as part of creating an effective, integrated national food safety system.
The fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill provides funding for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, rural development programs and related agencies. The bill will now be sent to President Obama for his signature.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths occur annually in the U.S. due to food pathogens, and about one of every four Americans will develop a foodborne illness each year.
Currently, state employees perform over half of all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections at domestic food processing plants. Yet, there are no mandatory federal training requirements for these food protection professionals and training varies widely by state.
