International Food Protection Issues Professional Development Group
Mission Statement: To provide a forum to discuss scientific issues of interest to the international food protection community.
Meeting Information
IAFP 2024
July 14, 2024
How to Join
Involvement in committees and professional development groups (PDGs) offers Members the opportunity to share a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Members of committees and PDGs are the architects of the Association structure. They plan, develop and institute many of the Association's projects, including workshops, publications and educational sessions. Technical challenges facing the food safety industry are discussed, examined and debated. Members may volunteer to serve on any number of committees or PDGs that plan and implement activities to meet the Association's mission.
Membership on a PDG is voluntary (not by appointment) and may vary from year to year.
IAFP Members can manage their PDG involvement by logging in to the IAFP Web site. At the Member Dashboard, click “Edit Profile.” Your profile has two tabs: Contact Info and Professional Info. Select the Professional Info tab and update the PDGs you would like to participate in. We highly recommend that you contact the PDG chairperson for each group to let them know you have joined their PDG.
Non-members can contact Dina Siedenburg, dsiedenburg@foodprotection.org, for more information.
Minutes
Board Responses
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Caroline Smith DeWaal proposed if there is an activity of IAFP at World Food Safety Day (June 7)? And if not, it is advised to develop a strategy to also have communication/
promotion of IAFP and of food safety at this day, since it is perfectly matching with our mission.
Board Response: IAFP had recognized World Food Safety Day in past years through social media and mention in the IAFP Report. Efforts will be made to promote this event earlier and more widely.
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1. Recommend approval of Marcel Zwietering as Vice Chair of the International Food Protection Issues PDG.
Board Response: Agree.
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2. Keep the hybrid option open for future conferences (including the regional conferences such as the EU symposium).
Board Response: IAFP will continue to evaluate meeting formats going forward. Presently, we plan to return to in-person speakers and attendees for 2022. Presentations are available (and have been since 2012) for viewing after completion of the Annual Meeting.
- None
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That DeAnn Benesh be approved as Vice Chair of the PDG beginning at IAFP 2019.
Board Response: Agree.
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In view of the high attendance at the International Food
Protection Issues PDG and the enthusiastic contributions
of members, the PDG requests that the time allowed for the
meeting be extended to 2–5 p.m. on the Saturday preceding
the Annual Meeting.
Board Response: Agree.
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To approve the election of Ian Jenson to Vice Chair of the PDG.
Board Response: Agree.
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To provide written summaries of IAFP international meetings to be printed in Food Protection Trends.
Board Response: Agree, currently, IAFP international meetings are reviewed in Food Protection Trends.
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PDG members commented they may not be able to attend anymore because of difficulty budgeting extra time and financial resources as it is held on Saturday. The PDG requests the Board to consider providing audio-
visual access to the meeting for members to attend and contribute from a distance.
Board Response: This PDG was originally scheduled on Saturday to accommodate international members who arrive early to the Annual Meeting. If the meeting agenda were circulated early (6 weeks or more prior to the meeting), members could set their travel plans to accommodate attending the PDG meeting.
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Approve Leon Gorris as the new Vice Chair, with the term of Chair to begin in 2017.
Board Response: Approve.
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Approve Bobby Krishna as the new Vice Chair, with the term of Chair to begin in 2015.
Board Response: Approved.
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Investigate the potential for partnership with the World Bank on the Global Food Safety Partnership.
Board Response: IAFP is already participating with the World Bank on the Global Food Safety Partnership.
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Consider inviting a speaker to give the Ivan Parkin lecture on the topic of the 20th anniversary of the World Trade Organization.
Board Response: This recommendation will be forwarded to the selection committee.
Webinars
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WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030 Jun 7, 2023
Organized by: IAFP's International Food Protection Issues PDG
The Global Strategy for Food Safety has been developed to guide and support WHO Member States in their efforts to prioritize, plan, implement, monitor, and regularly evaluate actions toward the reduction of the burden of foodborne diseases by continuously strengthening food safety systems and promoting global cooperation. The strategy’s vision is for all people, everywhere, to consume safe and healthy food so as to reduce the burden of foodborne diseases. This strategy gives stakeholders the tools they need to strengthen their national food safety systems and collaborate with partners around the world.
During the webinar, the roles and involvement of the different stakeholders in the implementation of the strategy and in strengthening food safety systems will be presented.Learning Objectives:
To celebrate World Food Safety Day 2023, the webinar will present the recently published WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030. Participants will be informed about the importance of food safety to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the strategic priorities to build proactive, forward-looking, evidence-based, people-centered, and cost-effective food safety systems with coordinated governance and adequate infrastructures, the implementation of the strategy by Member States and the role of WHO, and monitoring and evaluation including a logical framework and targets for three global indicators.Presenters- Simone Moraes Raszi, Presenter World Health Organization
- Marcel Zwietering, Moderator Wageningen University
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Introduction to Toxicology Part II: New Methodologies: Application in Food Safety and International Trade May 16, 2023
Organized by: IAFP's The International Food Protection Issues PDG
Part Two of a Two-Part Series: New Methodologies: Application in Food Safety and International Trade
Producing safe food requires attention to several aspects of the food during production, harvesting, processing, and distribution. Factors such as microbiological, allergen, foreign material, and chemical management are important parts of the overall food safety picture. With the current interest in toxic elements/heavy metals in infant formula and other foods, as well as the increasing interest in micro and nano plastics in food and the environment, a series of webinars has been created to provide overviews of the major principles of food toxicology; a review of already existing or newly developed methods and how these methods are applied to food toxicology; case studies of relevance to the food safety professional; as well as highlighting available resources.
This second webinar aims to provide a brief review of newly developed methods and discuss how they are and/or can be applied to food toxicology relevant to food safety and international trade.Presenters- Suzanne Fitzpatrick, presenter U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- José Vicente Tarazona Lafarga, Presenter PARC
- Marianne Solomotis, Moderator U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Steven Hermansky, Moderator DABT
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Food Toxicology Webinar-Food Chemical Safety and Current Tools and Methods Mar 28, 2023
Organized by: The International Food Protection Issues PDG
Part One of a Two-Part Series:
Producing safe food requires attention to several aspects of the food during production, harvesting, processing, and distribution. Factors such as microbiological, allergen, foreign material, and chemical management are important parts of the overall food safety picture. With the current interest in toxic elements/heavy metals in infant formula and other foods, as well as the increasing interest in micro and nano plastics in food and the environment, a series of webinars has been created to provide overviews of the major principles of food toxicology; a review of already existing or newly developed methods and how these methods are applied to food toxicology; case studies of relevance to the food safety professional; as well as highlighting available resources.
This first webinar aims to provide basic overviews of food chemical safety and of current tools and methods that are used in toxicology.Part II is scheduled for May 16, 2023
Presenters- Steve Hemansky, Pharm.D., Ph.D., DABT, Presenter U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- George Kass, Ph.D., ERT, Presenter European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
- Marianne Solomotis, Ph.D., Moderator U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Suzanne Fitzpatrick, PhD, DABT, ERT Moderator U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
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Cronobacter in the Spotlight: New Insights Into a Known Organism Jul 13, 2022
Organized by: ILSI Europe, the Low Water Activity Foods PDG, Microbial Modelling and Risk Analysis PDG, and the International Food Protection Issues PDG
Description: Cronobacter spp. is generally known to survive for long times in dry environments and can also form biofilms. Due to these characteristics the genus is ubiquitous in the environment, and has been isolated from different sources: water, soil, dust, cereals, animal products, herbs, spices and others. Cronobacter spp. (formerly known as Enterobacter sakazakii) was also identified as causative agent in foodborne outbreaks, esp. leading to severe infections, and even death, in infants. Since the majority of cases are in neonates and even premature neonates, the main food product involved is powdered infant formula for babies of 0-6 months. The organism is very robust in surviving dry conditions and is even more difficult to control in dry factory environments than Salmonella. The persistence of these organisms also led to re-occurring outbreaks, fortunately not frequently, but consistent. In this webinar, we will start with a short introduction to the organism and then discuss more details, which are relevant for Cronobacter spp. controls, with an expert panel on subjects like: epidemiology, ecology, persistence, sampling, detection and identification methods, microbiological criteria, and preventive measures. The audience is invited to send in questions beforehand.
Learning Objectives:
- Epidemiology, Ecology, Persistence, Sampling, Detection and Identification Methods
- Microbiological Criteria
- Preventive measures
Presenters- Seamus Fanning , Presenter University of Dublin, Ireland
- Roy Betts, Presenter Campden BRI Group, UK
- Marcel Zwietering, Presenter University of Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Francois Bourdichon, Presenter Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, France
- Stephen Forsythe, Presenter Guest lecturer at the University of Hong Kong and Advisor Center for Food Safety, South Africa
- Anett Winkler, Moderator Cargill, Germany
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The Global Burden of Foodborne Disease - Results and perspectives of WHO’s Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) Feb 9, 2016
The WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group is providing estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases, according to age, sex and region, for a defined list of causative agents of microbial, parasitic, and chemical origin, thereby strengthening the capacity of countries to assess the burden of foodborne disease and increasing awareness and commitment for the implementation of food safety standards. These estimates provide valuable information for food safety professionals.
This webinar is sponsored by Wageningen University, Marcel Zwietering, Leon Gorris, Arie Havelaar and an anonymous MMRA PDG Member.
Presenters- Arie Hendrik Havelaar Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida
- Marcel Zwietering, Moderator Wageningen University
