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Food-borne Illness

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RRT

Rapid Response Team

FSMA

Food Safety Modernization Act

RRT Updates 2022

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) Rapid Response Team (VA RRT) partnered with the Virginia Department of Health’s (VDH) Food and General Environmental Health Program and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) to develop and coordinate two Food Emergency Response Plan (FERP) Seminars. The FERP identifies the roles and responsibilities of leading and supporting agencies before, during, and after a food-related emergency affecting the Commonwealth of Virginia. The two seminars, “Food Emergency Response Plan In-depth Training for Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Virginia Department of Health Staff” and “Introduction of the FERP to the Virginia Emergency Support Team” were held on May 25, 2022, with 270 attendees at each seminar. 


The VA RRT worked in cooperation with the Virginia Food Protection Task Force (VFPTF) to create and print posters for Hepatitis A Prevention for Food Workers. These posters are double-sided with translations in Spanish and Chinese. VDH’s Food and General Environmental Health Program distributed the posters to food establishments.

 

The VA RRT worked in cooperation with the Virginia Food Protection Task Force to create, print and distribute a Plan and Checklist for Proper Cleanup of Vomit and Diarrhea Events. These were also translated in to Chinese and Spanish for distribution to food facilities by VDH Food and General Environmental Health Program Specialists and the VDACS Food Safety Specialist.  

 

The VA RRT has activated total of five times in 2022. These team activations provide resources and collaboration among each of the agency programs during a food borne outbreak or national adverse reaction responses. The Rapid Response team conducted an After Action Review for each response to improve response capabilities and minimize the impact to public health.  

 

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