Overview of the Food Safety Research Program

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The Ontario Government has long recognized the importance of food safety research as a tool to better characterize the risk presented by food contamination, to reduce risk through new detection instruments and methods, and to support the development of effective regulations and policies. For this reason, the Ontario Food Safety Research Program (FSRP) was launched in 2001, as part of the Ontario Food Safety System, an initiative of three Ontario ministries: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MHLTC).

The Food Safety Research Program is an open, competitive research fund with the purpose of enhancing food safety in Ontario through state-of-the-art research.

The mandate of the program is to support food safety research in three broad research areas:

• Development/validation of testing methods for pathogen and chemical detection in food and water
• Data to support risk assessments / risk assessments, including the identification of emerging hazards and contaminants
• Risk management and control in food safety
  

Over the last nine years the program has invested $7.2 million in 81 innovative projects at a number of research and development institutions in Ontario and Canada.

The research funded through this program has generated a large volume of new information and novel/improved technologies that are already being put into practice to enhance the Ontario food safety system. Antimicrobial resistance, novel methods for detection of E. coli O157:H7, viruses, and drugs in food are just a few of the many topics tackled by researchers supported by this program.

The program has been remarkably successful in achieving not only its stated objectives, but also in fostering collaboration in food safety research and in providing a venue for researchers to discuss priorities and new ideas. In addition, the program has been successful in disseminating information via the Ministry web site, through showcasing the achievements of funded research at the annual Food Safety Research Forum and by publishing the Ontario Food Safety Research Program Compendium.