FDA awards $18.5 million for food, feed safety

FDA awards $18.5 million for food, feed safety    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration awarded 84 grants worth $18.5 million in fiscal year 2010 to help state and local regulatory agencies defend against and respond quickly to threats to the food supply and to outbreaks of food-borne diseases.
   The grants fund major cooperative agreements in four major areas: response, intervention, innovation and prevention.
   'These cooperative agreements are another step in the FDA's continuing efforts to build an integrated food safety system between federal, state, and local partners,' said Joseph Reardon, director of the FDA's Division of Federal-State Relations, in a statement.