Food Protection Trends - September 2011 - (Page 556)

“FOOD FOR THOuGHT” from YOuR PrESIDENT ow, what a great Annual Meeting! Our 100 years celebration in Milwaukee is over. We enjoyed a few days together, learning more about food safety, partying at the Art Museum, and catching up with friends. Students were recognized for their achievements, including some who came on an IAFP student travel scholarship, where they discovered firsthand how valuable our Association will be to their careers, and what a friendly, welcoming Association this is. New members came to the meeting for the first time, some perhaps, on their first trip to the US, although they may h av e a t t e n d e d o n e o f t h e IAFP international meetings in Europe, Asia or South America. Some may have gained new ideas for research, having met new collaborators to work with on that next USDA grant! At the end of our m e e t i n g , we c e l e b r a t e d o u r achievements and honored our colleagues with various awards. Whatever the reason you came to IAFP this year, I’m sure you learned something new, and found it worthwhile. I want to thank all those who worked so hard to put the meeting together, particularly the IAFP staff, the Local Arrangements Committee, the Program Committee, and those who organized the scientific sessions, who all spent many hours on preparations. Your work is much appreciated. We are truly an international organization, as can be seen by the growth in new members and affiliates from outside the USA. I was pleased to note that Roger Cook, our speaker for the Ivan Parkin Lecture, is from New Zealand, while Jorgen Schlundt, our speaker for the John H. Silliker Lecture, is from Denmark, a testament to our international focus. Many of the symposia addressed W By ISABEL WALLS PRESIDENT “ Whatever the reason you came to IAFP this year, I'm sure you learned something new, and found it worthwhile” international food safety issues, including the late-breaking symposium “E. coli O104 in Europe”, and the symposia “China Food Safety – Challenges and Opportunities” and “Out of Africa: Initiatives to Improve Food Safety.” These symposia remind us that we have a global food supply, and we can have serious food safety issues in both developed and developing countries. This is food for thought, indeed. Fortunately, many IAFP members are involved in finding solutions to improve the safety of the global food supply. We heard from Roger Cook and Jorgen Schlundt that foodborne diseases are an important global public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 2 million children die from diarrheal diseases each year. This is an appalling tragedy, given that food and waterborne diseases are largely preventable and mainly affect children.Unfortunately,the full extent of the global burden of foodborne disease is unknown, despite the efforts of the WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group, in which a number of IAFP members participate. However, we have made significant strides in improving global food safety, as we heard from many speakers. As global food supply chains grow longer, it is more challenging to ensure food safety, but it is being done. Efforts include updating food safety legislation, increasing surveillance and inspection activities, implementing HACCP and pre-requisite programs, and developing and implementing new training and education programs, to change food safety behaviors. In June I gave a talk at the International Food Aid and Development Conference, a meeting for the food aid community, including the US Agency for International Development, Doctors without Borders, the World Food Program, and other organizations with a goal of reducing hunger globally. I talked about the need to consider food safety, particularly if a project involves growing food locally, in conditions where the water may not be safe, or where animal manure or human waste might be used as fertilizer. In addition to the public health impacts, 556 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | SEPTEMBER 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - September 2011

Food Protection Trends - September 2011
Contents
Sustaining Members
Food for Thought from Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Epidemiological Approaches to Food Safety
Localized Chemical Decontamination of Cattle Hides to Reduce Microbial Loads and Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens
General Interest Paper – Implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act
Call for 2012 Secretary Nominations
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - September 2011