FOOD ANIMAL RESIDUE AVOIDANCE DATABANK (FARAD) PROGRAM: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA COMPONENT

This proposal is to fund the continued implementation and further expansion of the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank or FARAD program at the University of Florida. FARAD was launched as an independent program in 1982 and currently is a collaborative consortium of colleges of veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University (NCSU), the University of California Davis (UCD) the University of Florida (UF) and Kansas State University (KSU). FARAD developed from the Residue Avoidance Program (RAP) as a repository of residue avoidance information and educational materials related to regulated drugs and other chemicals in food-producing animal species. Throughout most of the program's existence, FARAD has been funded by USDA/CSREES and more recently by USDA/NIFA. The overarching goal of FARAD is to protect the integrity of and facilitate production of safe foods of animal origin through the development and dissemination of scientific information that can be used to prevent or mitigate risks posed by violative residues of chemical agents (drugs, pesticides, environmental contaminants, etc.) in food animal products. While the principal users of FARAD are veterinarians, regulatory agency employees and extension specialists, the ultimate client is the general public who can consume foods of animal origin that are free of harmful drug or chemical residues. In its present-day format, FARAD is an expert-mediated residue avoidance decision support system that provides timely advice as well as real-time web-based information on a wide range of drugs and chemical entities. The FARAD program is considered pivotal for execution of regulations promulgated under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act of 1994 (AMDUCA) that provide a legal framework for the extra-label use of drugs in food-producing animal species by veterinarians. AMDUCA regulations require that extra-label use of drugs in food animals be based on sound principles of residue avoidance. The National Research Council acknowledged FARAD as the primary source of this information.