DHS Seeking Technology to Protect Food Supply
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Reported by Joe Pappalardo
The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking
new laboratory detection technology to screen the food supply for
hidden dangers. The system will need to quickly scan for biological
pathogens or toxins that pose a threat to consumers.
HSARPA’s Food Biological Agent Detection Sensor (FBADS) program
seeks to develop a cost-effective detection method for use in food
manufacturing and processing facilities. Ideally, according to HSARPA
documents, the system would be able to get accurate readings for
a wide range of potential threats in less than 20 minutes, with
a minimum of human involvement. A low cost also is desired, “so
that it can be absorbed by industry and have practical use beyond
protection of the food supply.”
The FBADS initiative responds to Homeland Security Presidential
Directive-9, “Defense of United States Agriculture and Food.”
That directive tries to place a framework around what many homeland
security experts see as a large gap in the national defenses.
The food network has many openings for manmade and natural disasters,
as witnessed by recent outbreaks of avian flu and foot-and-mouth
disease. “The United States agriculture and food systems are
vulnerable to disease, pest or poisonous agents that occur naturally,
are unintentionally introduced or are intentionally delivered by
acts of terrorism,” HSPD-9 states. “America’s
agriculture and food system is an extensive, open, interconnected,
diverse and complex structure providing potential targets for terrorist
attacks.”
Awards for the system may be granted in mid- to late 2005, depending
on the availability of future funding, HSARPA’s solicitation
noted.
Food security is monitored as part of the information analysis
and infrastructure protection focus of the Homeland Security Operations
Center, the department’s primary hub for information sharing
and coordinated reaction during domestic incidents.
Food and agricultural security issues are receiving increasing
attention across the federal spectrum. Most efforts have been spearheaded
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is conducting a far-flung
vulnerability assessment of domestic and imported food.
The USDA also has established an Office of Food Security and Emergency
Preparedness, and implemented the National Consumer Complaint Monitoring
System, a surveillance regime that tracks food-related complaints
in hopes it will serve as an early warning system for a potential
food-borne attack or outbreak.