FDA — Food and Drug Administration logo
FDA — Food and Drug Administration

Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM)

Funds state, territorial and tribal food- and animal-testing laboratories to run sample testing and lab capacity work for FDA's food safety system.

OpenFDA — Food and Drug AdministrationUnited States

When food turns out to be unsafe, the lab that catches it first is usually a state or territorial one, not FDA itself. This cooperative agreement pays for that layer directly — the laboratories that do the actual sample testing behind the country's food safety system.

The money supports four kinds of work: prioritised sample testing, food-defense preparedness, method development, and building up

Cooperative agreement funding for public and private universities and for state, county, city, tribal and other government food- and animal-feed-testing laboratories, to run prioritised sample testing, food-defense preparedness, method development and capacity-building inside FDA's integrated food safety system.

CycleiHow often this grant runs — e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.One-off
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.11 Jan 2028
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.
Award typeiThe form of funding — grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Cooperative agreement
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.

Sign up free to see the funding breakdown

Sign up free to see the industries in scope

Sign up free to see the full eligibility

Sign up free to see how to apply

Sign up free to see how they score you

Sign up free to see the timeline

Sign up free to see where teams trip up

Last verified: 25 Aug 2026Funder reference: RFA-FD-25-007Source: www.grants.gov