Overview of the Interagency Risk
Assessment Consortium
Isabel Walls, Ph.D.
National Program Leader, Epidemiology of Food Safety
USDA NIFA
Chair, IRAC Technical Committee
Overview
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Purpose
Goals
Background
Membership
Recent accomplishments
Current projects
Purpose
• To provide a forum for enhanced
communication and coordination among
federal agencies that develop and utilize food
safety risk assessments
Goals
• Improve risk assessment research
• Enhance the development and use of risk
assessment models and tools
• Serve as a forum to communicate about risk
assessment and related research issues
including the use of quantitative risk
assessment in decision making
Background
• Established in 1998 in response to the Presidential
Executive Order 13100 and President’s Food Safety
Council
• Co-chaired by FDA and FSIS
• Charter established to provide the basis for
collaboration among the members of the IRAC
• Each year the IRAC creates a plan of activities to meet
the overall goals
• IRAC meets quarterly to develop new projects and
activities, and review progress on existing projects
Membership
• All federal agencies with food safety risk analysis
responsibilities are invited to participate
• The IRAC technical representative from each agency
serves as its agency’s scientific delegate
• The IRAC policy representative from each agency
serves as a member of the IRAC Policy Council
Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium Member
Agencies (HHS)
• Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA
• National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious
Diseases, CDC
• National Center for Toxicological Research, FDA
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, NIH
• Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
CDC
Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium
Member Agencies (USDA)
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Food Safety and Inspection Service
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
Food and Nutrition Service
Economic Research Service
Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis,
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Office of the Chief Economist
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Agricultural Marketing Service
Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium
Member Agencies
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Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA
Office of Water, EPA
Office of Research and Development, EPA
US Army Public Health Command, DOD
Veterinary Services Activity, OTSG, DOD
US Army Institute of Public Health, DOD
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA
Department of Homeland Security
Recent accomplishments:
• Workshop/ Report on Defining Susceptible Populations
in Food Safety Risk Assessment
• Workshop on Risk- Based Inspection
• Workshop/ Report on Improving Dose –Response for
Listeria monocytogenes
• Workshop on Chemical Food Safety Risk Assessment
• Symposium at IAFP “Making a Difference: Data
Collection for Risk Assessments through Innovative
Approaches”
Current projects
• Risk Assessment as a Method for Determining
Attribution to Foodborne Illness
• Clarification of the Various Approaches for
Assessing Risk
Presentations at IRAC meetings
• NIOSH Risk Assessments and Occupational Exposure
Limit Developments, Frank Hearl, NIOSH
• One Health Initiative, Joe Annelli, APHIS/ Pat Basu, FSIS
• NOAA Fisheries’ On-going Efforts in Response to the Gulf
Oil Spill, by Spencer Garrett, NOAA National Seafood
Inspection Laboratory/ Office of Sustainable Fisheries
• Prediction of Salmonella Serotypes Based on PFGE
Patterns and NCTR Foodborne Pathogen Knowledgebase,
by Wen Zou, NCTR
• Risk Prioritization at FDA, by David Oryang from CFSAN
• CDC Estimates of Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United
States, Elaine Scallan, Colorado School of Public Health
and Mike Hoekstra from CDC
IRAC
• For more information see our website
• www.foodrisk.org/irac
• Outgoing technical chair: Isabel Walls
iwalls@nifa.usda.gov
• Incoming technical chair: Yuhuan Chen
yuhuan.chen@fda.hhs.gov
• Policy chairs: Sherri Dennis, FDA and Kerry
Dearfield, FSIS