Designated Federal Official - National Advisory Committee For The Microbiological Criteria For Foods
Washington D.C. Metro Area
The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) provides impartial scientific advice to federal agencies to use in developing integrated food safety systems from farm to table and to ensure food safety in domestic and imported foods. The NACMCF was established in 1988, under Departmental Regulation 1043-28, in response to the recommendations of two external organizations. The National Academy of Sciences recommended an interagency approach to microbiological criteria, since various federal, State, and local agencies are responsible for food safety. Also, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations made a similar recommendation in the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The NACMCF provides scientific advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Committee covers public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the U.S. food supply, including development of microbiological criteria and review and evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data and methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods.