On April 29 Western Growers asked the Food and Drug Administration to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) in order for the two organizations to work collaboratively to help conduct root cause analysis for foodborne illness outbreaks.

The letter, written by WG SVP of Science De Ann Davis, asks that the MOU be modeled upon an April 2014 agreement between Food Safety and Inspection Service and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services. “We believe there is considerable value in having a similar MOU in the context of foodborne illness under the FDA’s jurisdiction so that a root cause analysis can be conducted on downstream operations just as they would be for an operation under FSIS jurisdiction,” the letter states.

The letter can be read in its entirety here; the MOU that this request is based on between FSIS and USDA APHIS Veterinary Services can be read here.