Innovative Food Defense Program (R18)

The Innovative Food Defense Program (IFDP) grants are designed to generate food defense tools and resources that are easily replicated and can complement, aid in the development of, or improve State, local, Tribal and territorial (SLTT) food defense programs. The known overlap between food safety (unintentional contamination) and food defense (intentional contamination) is extensive and the pool of resources available is often the same. As the Food Safety Modernization Act recognizes the evolution of the relationship between food safety and food defense, it is critical that these programs be integrated to the maximum extent possible in order to ensure the most efficient use of resources, as well as to optimize response to an incident or event.