Food Protection Program
U.S. Army Public Health Command Region-Europe (PHCR-E) provides a wide array
of public health services for Department of Defense (DoD) personnel in
Europe, including food safety and food defense. Using a multifaceted
system, personnel from PHCR-E assess the safety of food procured by the DoD
for troop feeding and commissary sales. Civilian establishments that
provide food must meet rigid food manufacturing safety standards and pass
extensive audits performed by PHCR-E personnel. To help validate the safety
of food products, PHCR-E also routinely conducts quality, chemical, and
microbiological tests on food products in their own accredited laboratory.
Using a multidisciplinary team approach, PHCR-E also conducts military
dining facility inspections/consultations, food and water risk analyses for
various missions in Europe and Africa, food vulnerability assessments for
special events, garrison water safety monitoring, and epidemiologic
investigations of suspected foodborne illness outbreaks affecting DoD
personnel.
Public Health Command Region-Europe actively monitors current food safety
issues within the region. If a food product is found to pose a health
hazard, PHCR-E communicates with the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to
determine if any such product is in the DoD food supply chain. In the event
that a potentially unsafe product is in the inventory, DeCA traces the
product throughout the system from the manufacturer to the consumer, and the
highest priority is given to holding and/or recalling such product.
Subject matter experts within PHCR-E work together to properly assess,
manage, and communicate food and water risks to DoD personnel. A primary
focus of PHCR-E food safety operations is the assessment of complex and
highly technical food manufacturing and preparation processes to ensure that
the processes and procedures comply with regulatory requirements. The
primary focus is on proper procedures and good practices; testing is
performed as verification.