IRAC Annual Plan (FY2010)

 The IRAC, which consists of federal agencies with food safety responsibilities and/or interest, was formed in response to the 1997 Food Safety Initiative (FSI).  Currently membership includes 19 Federal agencies or sub-agencies.  Each agency is represented by a technical and a policy council representative.  The IRAC serves as an interagency collaborative network and accomplishes much of its goals through work groups.  These work groups have goals and deliverables realized in forms of workshops and meetings. The IRAC has expanded its range of issues addressed from microbial risk assessment in food, to chemical risk assessment, including water and the environment, and to ideas related to nutrients, nanotechnology, susceptible subpopulations, genomics and proteomics.

The Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC) will continue holding technical quarterly meetings, where the technical representatives of the member agencies exchange risk assessment and risk assessment–related research information.   The semi annual Policy Council meetings will also continue.

1. Quarterly Meeting Presentations
   1. Continue presentations by agency representatives on current risk assessments and issues related to risk assessment.
   2. Invited presentations by other organizations, e.g., ILSI, academia, industry, consumer groups.
2. Work Group Projects

   The IRAC accomplishes much of its work through work groups formed to address specific topics or issues.  It encourages work groups to have a definite beginning and endpoint and that if needed additional work is identified that the technical representative should submit a proposal for a new workgroup. The work group activities planned for FY10 are listed below.

   New Work Groups

   • Nanotechnology Risk Assessment.  
     Continuation of FY09 
   • Susceptible Populations. 
     Continuation of FY09 
   • Experimental Design to Support Risk Assessment
     The former data utility work group will no longer exist; a new work group will be formed to focus on sampling plans.
   • Nutrition Risk Assessment
     Work in collaboration with JIFSAN to develop a framework for conducting a risk assessment on a nutrient.
3. Workshops/Meetings/Mini symposia
   • Host or co-host at least two public meetings
   • Co-host with SRA Biological Stressors specialty group, CBER, and JIFSAN: "New and Old Approaches for Risk Assessment: Perspectives of Different Agencies, Institutions, and Industry"
   • Co-host with IOM a two day workshop on susceptibility in the aging population which will be held October 29-30 at the National Academy.
   • Host a 1.5 day workshop focusing on other susceptible populations (such as the very young, pregnant woman, and the immune compromised).
   • Host a mini symposium with all agencies involved in risk-based inspections to share information and challenges.