Pre Harvest Food Safety Professional Development Group

Webinars

• A Changing Environment: Impacts on Seafood Safety Oct 16, 2020

  The constantly changing environment impacts food safety in many ways, particularly seafood safety and the seafood industry. Documented changes of the ocean's temperatures, pH, and salinity impact the marine and estuarine environments from which we harvest our seafood. In addition to these global trends, storm activity has increased the freshwater influx to certain estuarine areas (e.g, the United States Gulf Coast) in recent years. 
  While some of these changes may be transient, they have the potential to impact the resident bacteria and phytoplankton populations and species, which can affect human health. For example: pathogenic Vibrio species generally favor warm environments, so their areas of residence and levels may shift with changing water temperatures; and phytoplankton species, some responsible for toxic blooms, have the potential to increase in areas where freshwater influxes bring a heavier nutrient load. These environmental changes may be impacting seafood safety, both due to emerging hazards and geographic expansion of known hazards. This presents a challenge for the seafood industry as well as public health risk managers. 
  This session will provide examples of the impacts of the changing environment on seafood safety and include a perspective from industry.

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  Presenters

  • Craig Baker-Austin, Panelist Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science, UK
  • Angelo DePaola, Panelist DePaola Consulting, USA
  • Stacey McLeroy, Panelist U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA
  • Mike Parsons, Panelist Florida Gulf Coast University, USA
  • Jessica Jones, Moderator U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory, USA
  • Lorraine McIntyre, Moderator British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Canada