FDA offers software tool to help keep food facilities safe from attack.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) has released a tool designed to help growers, packers, processors, manufacturers, warehousers, transporters, and retailers in the food industry determine the vulnerability of individual food facilities to biological, chemical, or radiological radiological pertaining to radiology. radiological diagnosis see radiological diagnosis. mobile radiological apparatus x-ray machines that can be moved but are not portable because of their weight. attack. The software program, called the CARVER + Shock Software Tool, offers a science-based prevention strategy. This tool is an example of the approach currently being developed as part of a broader food protection strategy under development by FDA. FDA's goal in developing the CARVER + Shock software is to maximize protection of the American food supply, said FDA Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection David Acheson David Campion Acheson (born 4 November 1921, Washington DC) is an American lawyer and the a son of former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson. David Acheson graduated from Yale University, where he was President of the Yale Political Union with a B.A. in 1942 and received a L. , M.D.: "The relative risk-ranking methodology used by the CARVER + Shock tool has been designed to assist facility operators in identifying potential vulnerabilities and assist in providing preventive measures to increase the defense of products and operations." CARVER + Shock was developed by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN, pronounced sif'-san) is the branch of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which regulates food, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. "Food" within the context of FDA is a very broad term with some limitations. , in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories, which is managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation), is a major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratory with two locations, one in Albuquerque, New , the Institute of Food Technologists, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is charged with ensuring that all meat, poultry, and processed egg products in the United States are safe to consume and accurately labeled. , the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, state representatives, and industry representatives. The acronym acronym: see abbreviation. A word typically made up of the first letters of two or more words; for example, BASIC stands for "Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. CARVER refers to six attributes that the tool uses to evaluate potential targets: * Criticality -- What impact would an attack have on public health and the economy? * Accessibility -- How easily can a terrorist access a target? * Recuperability -- How well could a system recover from an attack? * Vulnerability -- How easily could an attack be accomplished? * Effect -- What would be the direct loss from an attack, as measured by loss in production? * Recognizability -- How easily could a terrorist identify a target? The CARVER tool also evaluates a seventh attribute: the psychological impacts of an attack, or the "shock" attributes of a target. The psychological impact tends to be greater, for example, when a large number of deaths are involved or when the target has historical or cultural significance. CARVER + Shock is the latest in a series of food defense efforts by FDA following the terrorist attacks of September 2001. Since then, FDA has worked closely with its partners in federal, state, and local governments, and with the food industry to assess existing food defense measures and augment them for improved protection. One such effort, the Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism Initiative, helps identify sector-specific vulnerabilities, determine research gaps and needs, and increase coordination between the federal government and industry stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. . In 2006, FDA also launched the ALERT Initiative, designed to raise industry awareness of food defense and preparedness pre·par·ed·ness n. The state of being prepared, especially military readiness for combat. Noun 1. preparedness - the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action); "putting them issues. CARVER + Shock builds on ALERT and allows a more formal and detailed food defense assessment. For more information on CARVER + Shock, visit www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/vltcarv.html. |
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