Food Protection Trends - November 2008 - (Page 800)

The John H. Silliker Lecture From Wild Pigs and Spinach to Tilapia and Asia: The Challenges of the Food Safety Community Presented by: Dr. Michael P. Doyle Center for Food Safety University of Georgia Griffin, Georgia I t is a special honor for this opportunity to present the IAFP John Silliker Lecture. John Silliker has been a pioneer in helping the food industry to control Salmonella in processing facilities and testing finished products to improve safety. His leadership in identifying critical locations of Salmonella contamination in food processing facilities and developing methods for compositing samples for detecting Salmonella in foods are just a few of the important contributions that underscore his impressive legacy. The dynamics of the food industry have changed dramatically during the past decade as has the ability of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to detect outbreaks of foodborne illness. The “progress” made by food processors and public health agencies has led to new and greater challenges for the food safety community in ensuring greater public health protection through safe foods. Two of the most dramatic changes within the industry that increase the risks to foods are the production of fresh-cut, ready-to-eat produce and the increased importation of foods from countries that use insanitary hygienic practices in food production, harvesting, and/or processing. These risky food safety practices are countered by major advances in foodborne disease outbreak detection systems such as PulseNet and SalmNet that have led to the identification of many recent outbreaks that would have likely been undetected a decade ago. Riskier food production practices combined with increasingly advanced foodborne outbreak surveillance and detection methods are opposing forces that will likely raise to unprecedented heights the level of the challenges to both the food industry and public health community in ensuring safe foods. As a reminder, it is the food industry’s responsibility through production, harvesting, processing, distribution and retailing to provide safe foods, the regulatory agencies’ responsibility to verify that the industry is providing safe foods, and the academy’s role to assist both parties in providing and verifying safe foods. Many factors are driving the food industry to riskier practices ranging from driving down costs to consumer preferences for more fresh-like products. Consumer preference for ready-to-eat, fresh-cut vegetables and fruits have provided the fresh-cut produce industry a multibillion dollar per year opportunity within a decade. However, as this industry grows and adopts cost-cutting measures, the food safety aspects of production, harvesting and processing must not be overlooked. Between 1998 and 2006, 18 confirmed foodborne disease outbreaks have been associated with fresh-cut produce of which half were attributed to contaminated lettuce. Analysis of foodborne outbreaks that occurred during the past decade have revealed that produce and plant-associated products are leading vehicles of foodborne illnesses in the USA, being responsible for more illnesses associated with reported foodborne outbreaks between 1998 and 2004 than any other food group. Leafy greens and noroviruses; tomatoes, melons and peppers and Salmonella; and fruits and leafy greens and E. coli O157:H7 are the food vehiclepathogen combinations frequently being reported. The large outbreak of 205 E. coli O157:H7 infections, 31 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, and 3 800 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | NOVEMBER 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November 2008

Food Protection Trends - November 2008 Contents Sustaining Members Perspectives from Your President Commentary from the Executive Director Biofilm Formation of Listeria monocytogenes on Various Conveyor Belt Surfaces Third-Party Certification of Agro-Products in China:�A Study of Agro-Product Producers in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Qingdao IAFP 2008 in Review Award Winners 3M Microbiology - Black Pearl Award Winner Ivan Parkin Lecture - Russell S. Flowers John H. Silliker Lecture - Michael P. Doyle Student Travel Scholarships Session Summaries Highlights of the Executive Board Meeting Minutes of the 95th Annual Business Meeting Committee Minutes Executive Board Response to Committee Recommendations Exhibitors of IAFP 2008 Special Contributors and Sponsors Call for Awards - IAFP 2009 New Members What's Happening in Food Safety Industry Products Coming Events Advertising Index Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents Audiovisual Library Order Form Booklet Order Form Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - November 2008

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