Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the security of the nation's food supply has been a top priority for the government. Security measures are being implemented in earnest since the Bioterrorism Act came into force in 2002, but this is the latest attempt to get processors to look inwards at their own operations to self-determine potential risks.

The program, called Carver + Shock Software tool, takes users through a series of questions that help determine vulnerability along the processing chain, with warning as to the attractiveness of a particular step as a target.

Originally developed to assess risks to the nuclear industry, the program requires just a few hours of training for operators to begin the assessment, the FDA claims.

David Acheson, the FDA's asssistant commissioner for food protection, said the program had been specially developed to protect the nation's food supply.

"The relative risk-ranking methodology used by the Carver + Shock software tool has been designed to assist facility operators in identifying potential vulnerabilities and assist in providing preventive measures to increase the defense of products and operations," he said.

Developed by a team led by Sardia, nuclear security advisors, the program builds a flow chart on the answers provided over about 200 questions.

These are based on six risk factors that spell acronym, Carver: criticality, accessibility, recuperability, vulnerability, effect and recognizability.

A seventh attribute- the psychological impacts of an attack or "shock" of a target also forms part of any evaluation.

The program is the latest in a series of food defense measures by FDA following the terrorist attacks of September 2001. Since then, FDA has worked with a number of federal, state and local government officials, in conjunction with the food industry to assess existing risks and implement improvements.

One such effort, the Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism Initiative, helps identify sector-specific vulnerabilities, determine research gaps and needs, and increase coordination between the federal government and industry.

In 2006, the FDA launched the Alert Initiative, which aims to raise industry awareness of food defense and preparedness issues. The Carver + Shock builds on ALERT, and allows processors to form a more formal and detailed food defense assessment of operations.