2023 FARAD - FOOD ANIMAL RESIDUE AVOIDANCE DATABASE PROGRAM - UF COMPONENT

FARAD is a collaborative consortium based at Kansas State University, North Carolina State University, the University of California Davis, the University of Florida (UF), and Virginia Maryland. FARAD is an expert-mediated residue avoidance decision support system that provides timely advice and web-based information on a wide range of drugs and chemicals. The FARAD program is 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. The core missions of FARAD are to protect the integrity of animal-derived foods intended for human consumption (meat, milk, eggs, honey, etc.) and facilitate the health and welfare of food-producing animal species. These goals are achieved through the collection, evaluation, interpretation and dissemination of scientific information that can prevent or mitigate risks from unsafe or harmful residues of chemicals in food animal products, including drugs, pesticides and environmental contaminants. FARAD provides an expert-mediated consultation service for veterinarians, who may submit specific questions on residue avoidance via a nationwide toll-free hot line (1-888-873-2723) or through an online submission portal. The UF component of FARAD oversees, develops and maintains the electronic databases that support the program. UF also develops and maintains web-based interfaces and electronic resources, including the FARAD website (www.farad.org), the on-line Veterinarian's Guide to Residue Avoidance Management (VetGRAM), a tool for finding established recommendations for drug withdrawal intervals, applications allowing database access for mobile devices, and other information resources. The UF component also develops physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling approaches that are vital for FARAD to accurately estimate drug withdrawal intervals, and provides pharmacokinetic support for the other FARAD centers.