Grants / Department of Health and Human Services / Food and Drug Administration

RFA-FD-26-003: Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaboration

Closed Closed July 14, 2026 Opportunity RFA-FD-26-003 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Flexible Funding Model - Advancing Domestic Mutual Reliance Through Strengthened Infrastructure Development and Maintenance for Manufactured Food Regulatory Programs (PAR-27-017). Status: Rolling or no fixed deadline. It is in our archive of Food and Drug Administration notices from 2026.

• Award ceiling$750,000
• Total funding$2.3 million
• Expected awards3
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

This funding opportunity is limited to national organizations/associations as outlined below:1. National organizations/associations that represent SLTT retail food regulatory programs or retail food/foodservice industries as a primary purpose. National associations/organizations have the membership, resources, structure, and expertise necessary to build national consensus amongst state/local agencies and/or industry on key food safety issues. They are the primary means for communication and collaboration on issues of national significance for SLTT retail food regulatory agencies and/or industry. The outcomes are position statements, resolutions, and legislation that are uniformly supported by SLTT agencies and/or industry.2. These national organizations/associations have a vested interest and share the FDA’s vision to leverage the resources and strengths of national retail food safety associations to collaboratively advance retail food initiatives and activities to reduce foodborne illness.3. A principal purpose of the organization(s)/association(s) must be to facilitate harmonization of state standards and requirements in areas congruent with the purpose and goals of this funding opportunity announcement. The association(s) should act as a leader and a resource to SLTT retail food regulatory agencies or industry in developing and implementing strategies to promote public health and consumer protection related to retail foods. Additionally, the association(s) must have knowledge on the infrastructure, capacity, strengths, and needs of SLTT retail food regulatory programs and/or industry. The association(s) must have successful experience in carrying out national efforts to build an integrated food safety system, which includes federal, SLTT agencies, and industry. The association(s) must be comprised of regular members that are officials of SLTT regulatory agencies that administer retail food inspection programs in conjunction and in collaboration with the FDA and/or comprised of regular members from the retail food/foodservice industries.4. Applicant associations must hold an information sharing agreement with FDA under 21 CFR 20.88(e) or be able to obtain an agreement prior to the start date of the award. Information sharing is limited to pre-decisional information and only for the purpose outlined in this award.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Food and Drug Administration Research awards averaged $1.3 million; this notice allows up to $750,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (35% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The purpose of this NOFO is to collaboratively advance retail food initiatives to reduce foodborne illness. This funding opportunity aims to advance practices in retail food protection and identify opportunities for collaboration to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors. This opportunity aims to assist retail food regulatory programs and industry in reducing foodborne illness by implementing effective intervention strategies designed to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors; implementing and achieving full conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS); promoting use of risk-based inspection methods to effectively identify the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors, conduct root cause analysis, assess gaps in industry active managerial control (AMC), and promote regulatory compliance; promoting adoption of the most recent version of the FDA Food Code; effectively responding to foodborne illness outbreaks; and responding to emerging food safety trends. The program is also intended to encourage the research, development, and implementation of industry food safety management systems and the prerequisite food safety culture necessary to achieve AMC of foodborne illness risk factors.

Category: Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Food and Nutrition.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, PAR-27-017, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.