Food Protection Trends - May 2012 - (Page 254)

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN FOOD SAFETY FSIS Evaluating Petition to Deem Four Salmonella Strains Adulterants SDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has received a petition from Center for Science in the Public Interest requesting that the agency deem four strains of Salmonella as adulterants in raw meat and poultry. “We’re assessing that and how we’d go forward if we were to adopt it,” Dan Engeljohn, assistant administrator FSIS’s Office of Policy & Program Development, told attendees here at the North American Meat Processors Association’s annual Meat Industry Management Conference. The petition is one of FSIS’s many considerations with regard to Salmonella as it looks to help reduce illnesses associated with that pathogen in the products the agency regulates. Each year more than 500,000 illnesses are reported to have stemmed from those products, primarily from poultry. “We really can’t make progress if we don’t focus on Salmonella … much of our policy efforts will focus on Salmonella in poultry,” Dan Engeljohn said. FSIS is conducting several baseline studies, including one on raw chicken parts to establish a new performance standard and on ground poultry to reset current Salmonella performance standards. Testing so far on ground poultry has shown that roughly 50 percent of samples “could have Salmonella in them,” Mr. Engeljohn said. The agency just began the chicken parts study, scheduled to span six months. Mr. Engeljohn also said FSIS is focused on verification testing in u broiler carcass sets, with the goal to complete two sets over the course of the next year, as the agency plans to verify compliance with new standards issued in July last year. The agency has nearly completed one set in most establishments. Good news is poultry processors largely have been meeting the challenge for Salmonella. “There’s a very good compliance meeting the new performance standards we put in place for Salmonella,” Mr. Engeljohn said. “There are only a few establishments who have failed the new performance standards.” New Food Safety Modernization Act among Major Legal, Business Challenges to Food Imports s sweeping reforms mandated by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) begin to take effect, the new regulations involving testing, validation and other requirements pose critical challenges to expanding food imports to the United States. These and other related legal and business challenges were the focus of a major food industry forum. “The Opportunity – and Challenge – of Expanding Food Imports to the United States” was held recently as the Global Midwest Alliance’s Chicago winter food industry and technology event. More than 100 attendees heard from members of the Freeborn & Peters Food Industry Team as well as a dozen other speakers, including food company owners, government officials, food scientists and business professionals. “The Midwest is a major center for food manufacturing and process- A ing, and there is no better place to assess the effect of the industry changes than here in Chicago. We were honored to be able to help present this forum to exchange ideas and insights into these critical issues impacting food imports,” said Michael A. Moynihan, Freeborn & Peters Food Industry Team and co-managing partner of the firm. The Freeborn & Peters Food Industry Team assists food industry clients and related companies in addressing the sector’s complex legal and business challenges. After increasing by 20 percent over the last decade, food imports into the United States are expected to continue to rise rapidly in coming years due to the growing population, desires and needs of ethnic communities, and Americans’ taste for fresh, organic produce year-round. According to keynote speaker Dr. Robert E. Brackett, vice president and director of the National Center for Food Safety and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, understanding new requirements of the FSMA will be a major challenge to expanding food imports. Signed into law by President Obama in January 2011, the FSMA aims to help ensure U.S. food safety by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it. Dr. Brackett said the FSMA is expected to cost businesses and the U.S. government $1.4 billion for implementation over the next five years. Dr. Brackett also outlined other existing challenges to imports, including quality control, compliance with regulations especially in new markets in developing countries, finding distributors and retail customers, and foreign tariffs and customs. He added that advances 254 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | MAY 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - May 2012

Food Protection Trends - May 2012
Contents
Sustaining Members
Food for Thought from Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Assessing Food Safety Practices in Farmers’ Markets
Managing Food Safety Hazards: Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Antibiotic-resistant Pathogens
IAFP Secretary Announcement
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
IAFP 2012
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Booklet Order Form
Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - May 2012