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Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank - FY 2010
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FARAD is an integrated extension and applied research program provides required scientifically valid information on how to avoid drug, environmental and pesticide contaminant residues in food animals and it helps to avert food safety crises. No other federal or private entity duplicates FARAD.
AVMA Funding Request
- FY 2010: $2.5 million is requested for FARAD, an integrated extension and applied research program designed to provide information on how to avoid drug, pesticide and environmental contaminant residue problems.
Current Status
- FY 2010: $806,000 - House Appropriations Committee (passed June 18, 2009)
Previous Funding
- FY 2009: $806,000 - Omnibus Appropriations.
- FY 2008: USDA & FDA provided emergency funding $125,000
- FY 2007: USDA & FDA provided emergency funding $958,485.
Authorized Funding
- FYs 2008-2012: $2.5 million (PL110-246, Section 7312).
Justification
- Veterinarians use antimicrobials to address animal health and welfare and to enhance public safety.
- PL 103-396, the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA) authorized in 1994, permits veterinarians to prescribe antimicrobials in an extra-label manner to treat conditions for which there are no effective approved antimicrobials. AMDUCA requires an extended withdrawal period for antimicrobials used in an extra-label manner. FARAD provides the scientific basis for determining the appropriate withdrawal period.
- FARAD is used when environmental contaminants are introduced into food animals
- Veterinarians treating minor species (lamb, sheep, goats, reindeer, elk, ducks, pheasant, quail, rabbits, salmon, cod, catfish, tilapia, trout, whitefish, grouper, lobster, shrimp, oysters, and honeybees, etc.) depend on FARAD for scientifically valid withdrawal information.
FARAD Protects Food Producers and Enhances Food Safety
- FARAD is a unique repository for this residue avoidance information.
- FARAD allows animal derived products to be safely consumed after the appropriate withdrawal time to insure that the chemical contaminant no longer exists in the animal at levels of concern.
- Without the critical FARAD program some animals and animal byproducts could enter the food supply that may harm human health.
- Without FARAD food producers may have to euthanize an animal, a herd, or dispose of meat and eggs due to the lack of withdrawal information.
FARAD Track Record: 27 Years of Success
- FARAD mitigated food safety crises arising from the Chernobyl nuclear fallout; Dioxin contamination of milk in Europe; pesticide contamination of pineapple food stuffs in Hawaii; flood-induced botulism poisoning in cattle; hurricane-related livestock contamination; and routine contaminations involving deliberate poisoning of milk transport tankers with antibiotics, catfish pond exposure to flame retardants and pesticide spraying.
- These examples do not include significant amounts of information pertaining to the intended use of medicines that keep animals healthy while insuring the animal can safely be introduced into the food supply.
US FARAD Centers
- FARAD work is conducted at three state universities (noted below) by pharmacologists, toxicologists, programmers, data extractors and graduate students:
- University of California-Davis: FARAD hot-line; maintains drug pharmacokinetic database and database of call records and responses.
- University of Florida-Gainesville: U.S. Approved Animal Drugs database maintenance and the Foreign Trade-name database maintenance; FARAD website maintenance.
- North Carolina State University-Raleigh: FARAD hotline; and Novel Kinetic Modeling.
- Federal partners – USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and the FDA Center for Veterinary.
- University partners – salaries for program directors and support veterinarians are currently provided in kind by the three universities noted above.
- Global FARAD (gFARAD) was launched by U.S. researchers from FARAD in response to foreign countries' need for residue data and requests to duplicate the program overseas. gFARAD is financed entirely by local funds in participating countries and in the U.S. by private donations. gFARAD has attracted collaborations (but not funding) from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI). gFARAD has far reaching implications for the harmonization of standards and procedures and the safety of foods imported into the U.S. and global food safety. Since 2003, the UK, France, and Spain have initiated gFARAD sites. The Canadian gFARAD became fully operational with significant, recurring support from the government of Canada in 2003. U.S. FARAD provides training in gFARAD techniques and databases for China and has hosted the Taiwanese gFARAD consortium and South Korean delegate visits to FARAD.
AVMA Contacts
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