FDA's First Ever Food Safety Challenge Kicks-Off September 23, 2014
By Laurel Maloy, contributing writer, Food Online
Do you have an innovation or technology that can detect foodborne pathogens? If so, the FDA would love to hear from you
Federal agencies, under the authority of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, have broad latitude to conduct competitions in order to discover the newest and brightest innovative ideas. Prizes can be offered and though the competitions are fairly targeted, no one will be chastised for submitting an idea that expands the original parameters. COMPETES is the acronym for Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science.
Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at the FDA, says the agency is thrilled to announce its first competition under the America COMPETES Act. He goes on to say that this incentive-prize contest is an opportunity for his agency to collaborate with outside experts in an effort to discover breakthroughs in the field of food safety. This particular competition’s focus is to find new ways in which to more quickly identify foodborne pathogens, especially Salmonella, in minimally-processed, fresh produce. However, any method by which to discover pathogens in any food product will gladly be accepted. The total prize pool for this competition will be $500,000.
A panel of food-safety experts from the FDA, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the USDA will judge the competition. The submissions will all be assessed, the five finalists determined, and then the overall winner(s) selected. The FDA is encouraging anyone with an interest or background in food safety to submit their idea. Academics, scientists, entrepreneurs, and all forward-thinking individuals are urged to go here to view the complete challenge rules and to submit a concept. The FDA is looking for novel or revolutionary techniques to accelerate or simplify the processes by which foodborne pathogens are currently identified. New techniques may be combined with existing methodologies, with the purpose being to save time in the testing process. Submissions will be judged on five criteria: Speed, Improved Detection and Path to Impact, Applicability, Revolutionary Improvement, and Execution-ability.
The timeline for the competition follows:
- September 23, 2014 — Call for Submissions
- November 9 — Submission Deadline
- January 7, 2015 — Five Finalists Announced
- March 5, 2015 — Finalists will Demo Concepts
- March 12, 2015 — Winner(s) Announced
How will the $500,000 prize be allocated? According to the website, up to five finalists will receive $20,000 each, with the winner, or winners, receiving the remainder of the prize money. The prize money will be paid by transfer of electronic funds and may be subject to Federal income taxes. But don’t let that stop you — the game is afoot!