Food Protection Trends - November 2010 - 690

of virology is expanding, and techniques currently used to reduce viruses in the environment. The speaker described many different foodborne viruses, including Norovirus, Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis E virus, Coxsackievirus, Astrovirus, and Aichi virus — just to name a few. The speaker concluded that these viruses would continue to change and adapt over time. The next speaker, Ynes Ortega, spoke about “Infrequently Identified Food and Waterborne Parasites.” The speaker explained how the human population has become increasingly exposed to foodborne parasites through travel, interaction with animals, and increased consumption of exotic foods. Imported foods from endemic areas and the role of migrant workers may also contribute to the increase in foodborne illness caused by parasites. Foodborne parasites, including protozoa, nematodes, cestodes, and trematodes, were also discussed in greater detail. “Mycotoxins in Foods” was presented by Mary W. Trucksess. In this presentation, the speaker explained that mycotoxins are produced as metabolites by Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillum species. Of these mycotoxins, 300—400 are identified as toxic to humans. Mycotoxins including aflatoxins, ochratoxins, and patulins were discussed in further detail. The speaker also discussed the classical and emerging technologies used to identify mycotoxins in foods and concluded that mycotoxins will continue to be an evolving problem in food science. Scott Wells spoke about the organism Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis and its relation to Crohn’s disease in humans and Johne’s disease in cattle. The speaker explained that research indicates that MAP is associated with Crohn’s disease; however, it is not certain whether MAP is the single cause of the disease, nor is it understood how MAP is involved in the etiology of the disease. The speaker concluded that control of this disease is feasible, but eradication will be very difficult. The last speaker, Robert Dickey, spoke about “Marine and Seafood Toxins.” The speaker discussed how the changing oceans, climates, and human activities are contributing to eutrophication. The speaker also explained that the origin of seafood toxins is phytoplankton; however, only 1—2% of 5,000 species of phytoplankton produce toxin. The speaker went on to discuss the current detection methods for seafood toxins and the difficulty of acquiring such toxins for research. It was concluded that there is a need for better availability of toxins for research and risk assessment.

S9 — Buy Local? Addressing the Safety Issues Behind Green Food Trends Anh Nguyen and Andrea Dow
The session was opened with a presentation titled “Living La Vida Locovore: Food Safety Concerns Associated with Emerging Food Trends” by Dr. Benjamin Chapman from the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family and Consumer Sciences, North Carolina State University, and creator of Barf Blog. Dr Chapman described the rapidly growing trend of purchasing local food products and produce, as shown by survey data on consumers’ belief that by buying locally grown products they were purchasing healthier, tastier products while

also supporting the economy of their local community. Though none of the surveys indicated that the choice was based on food safety concerns, when asked directly about food safety, most customers rated their local food an eight out of ten. However, this perception of providing safer food products is not accurate. Outbreaks of foodborne pathogens associated with local foods and markets have been reported since 2000. Dr. Chapman pointed out that safety has not received much attention in such a market. Therefore, it is critical to understand what the important risks are and how they should be managed. Dr. Patricia Millner from USDA-ARS highlighted the growing local food trend and addressed the safety question of local food in her talk “Bringing Food Safety from Local Farms and Markets to Your Table.” Dr. Millner described the benefits of buying from local producers and various forms of green food production currently in place and ideas that may be seen in the future. She demonstrated how the availability of fresh produce in a community, especially an urban community, is beneficial to both producers and consumers. Regarding food safety, Dr. Millner focused on the prevalence of General Agricultural Practices (GAPs) certification among local farmers and local food producers that supplied food in the Farm to School program. She demonstrated a relatively large disparity between numbers of GAPs certified farms and numbers of schools involved in the program. Dr Millner again stressed the importance of food safety principles regardless of food sources. Joane Menke-Schaenzer from ConAgra Foods Inc. presented a corporate point of view on the food safety of local food supply in “Comparison of Local/Slow/Organic Food Safety Versus Commercial Food Manufacturing Food Safety.” She discussed her own personal viewpoint on why she frequently chooses to buy local, how she picks who she buys from and compared local foods with ConAgra’s approaches in those areas. She stressed the necessity for a dialogue between corporate food producers and growers to promote food safety awareness in the farmers’ communities. She also recommended the same dialogue for local consumers when shopping at local food markets. She described the types of questions consumers can ask producers before they decide to purchase from them. These questions were based on ones she personally uses and questions a corporate producer asks when choosing a farmer-supplier. She took examples from the relationship between ConAgra Foods Inc. and the farmers that are chosen to produce their tomatoes, potatoes and corn to further describe how ConAgra contracts farmers based on their food safety practices.

S10 — Good Agricultural Practices and the Small Scale Producer: What’s Really Going On Out There? Pardeepinder Kaur Brar and Sean Beckman
“Understanding the Need and Value of GAPs Implementation to Small Scale Producers” was presented by Elizabeth Bihn, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Food Science and Technology, Cornell University, Geneva, NY. Smaller farms tend to have smaller size and lower sales, and to be operated by growers who have occupations other than farming. Most

690 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | NOVEMBER 2010

Food Protection Trends - November 2010

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