Increasing the Capability and Capacity of Microbiological and Chemical Testing to Support an Integrated Food Defense and Food Safety System Chemistry Discipline, Food Defense Analytical Track Project Summary / Abstract The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) Consumer Protection Laboratory (CPL) proposes to strengthen federal efforts to protect the national food supply and enhance the state’s regulatory effectiveness and speed in food defense. ODA-CPL seeks to address four different problems over the entire five-year project period. First, ODA-CPL will secure full-service contracts to minimize instrument downtime and bypass the long process of procuring a purchase order through the state. Second, the laboratory will purchase and install new instruments designed to automate laborious parts of sample methods. As more automation becomes the norm, the laboratory is expected to improve efficiency of personnel being used as well as speed up turnaround time of analysis. Third, ODA-CPL proposes to hire another laboratory technician to increase redundancy in support staff as well as reduce the amount of time scientists are spending on support-level work. This would allow more freedom for scientists to be trained in additional FERN methods and thus provide either redundancy in existing methodology or expansion of capability in the laboratory. Lastly, ODA-CPL intends to regularly participate in FDA exercises and activities, including any security events, proficiency tests, surveillance activities and any other such exercise as requested by the US FDA. During the first project period, ODA-CPL is already preparing for an activation for the 2021 Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies scheduled in January 2021. The laboratory has agreed to perform any testing on “for cause” samples collected during this event. ODA-CPL will also participate in any LFFM face-to-face meetings, agreeing to send the Chemistry Project PI at minimum to represent the chemistry discipline. ODA-CPL is already operationally ready to perform GC-MS, LC-MS, ICP- MS, other methods at a moment’s notice to support the FERN Network in handling any food- related emergency where chemical analysis is required; these actions described above will further supplement that readiness by reducing turnaround time, minimizing instrument downtime, and providing redundancy for personnel in case of sudden absence or illness.