About Us
The Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (WIFSS) is a University of California, Davis program of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Our Mission
Our mission is to serve the global community by conducting research, developing training, and providing outreach programs that focus on safer, better quality food systems, water quality, and healthy animals, to safeguard the health and security of people, animals, and the environment.
With initial funding from USDA’s Specialty Crop Produce Program, we opened our doors as a center of excellence in food safety.
In response to 9/11 terrorist attacks, we received funding to develop courses through the Department of Homeland Security to protect the food supply from agroterrorism.
The Western Center for Food Safety, an FDA Center of Excellence, forms out of WIFSS in response to the 2006 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to spinach.
We joined the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium to further develop food security curriculum and train first responders in rural areas for animal and food supply disasters.
We entered into a cooperative agreement with the FDA to upgrade training for inspectors and investigators of specialty crops, produce, feeds, dairy operations, and tissue residues in meat from animals receiving antibiotics.
We signed a working agreement with Nanjing Agricultural University in China to create a One Health Center for Food Safety at NAU.
Entered into a cooperative agreement with the USDA to serve as a Western Regional Center for the Secure Food Supply projects focusing primarily on the Secure Milk and Beef Supply projects as well as to provide development of training and educational materials in support of all SFS projects.