Food Protection Trends - January/February 2021 - 131

also mentioned the idea of a session on food safety improvements in the
value chain, balancing food safety, sustainability, and profitability. Amit
also mentioned the idea of how international agencies are addressing
the balance between maintaining a global food supply but also ensuring
safety, which DFSP could reach out to the International PDG about.
Another idea was for a roundtable about food entrepreneurship; however,
it was noted something similar had been done a few years ago. Another
idea was training food safety professionals in evolving technological
landscapes. Another idea mentioned was a session on interpersonal
skills when managing and working with others, possibly with one invited
speaker from a social science/psychological background.
Recommendations to the Executive Board:
1.

The DFSP recommends to appoint Amit Morey as the new Vice
Chair of the PDG.

Next Meeting Date: July 18-21, 2021, Phoenix, Arizona.
Meeting Adjourned: 3:23 p.m. Eastern Time.
Chairperson: Matthew Moore.

PDG survey results were showed that PDG members had a high
level of interest in allergens, pesticides, trace back, food safety training
and consumer awareness.
Kimberly Yeager proposed that the sustainable packaging session
may be co-sponsored with the packaging PDG.
Other topics brought up included antiviral packaging, PFAs, mycotoxins, and the need for allergen awareness and food safety in parts of
the African continent.
Recommendations to the Executive Board:
1. Approve Angela Anandappa as new PDG Chair and Sally Klinect
as PDG Vice Chair.
2. Make IAFP Connect more user friendly. Proposed IAFP invest in
an App for IAFP Connect and provide/support a secondary means
of communication outside of IAFP Connect.
Next Meeting Date: July 18-21, 2021, Phoenix, Arizona.
Meeting Adjourned: 12:55 p.m. Eastern Time.
Chairperson: Angela Anandappa.

Food Chemical Hazards and Food Allergy PDG
Attendees: Angela Anandappa (Chair), Sally Klinect (Vice Chair),
Alexandria Lau, Brent Kobielush, Brian Himelbloom, Cindy Jiang, Erika
Estrada, Gerard Ruth, James Cook, Kimberly Anderson, Kimberly Yeager,
Kolawole Banwo, Melanie Downs, Michael Roberson, Mohamed Ziyaina,
Sefat E. Khuda, Shruthi Shankar, Steve Taylor, Tracie Sheehan, WanChin
Lim, and Yvonne Masters.

Food Defense PDG

Staff Present: Didi Loynachan and Dina Siedenburg.

Names of Attendees: Mark Kazmierczak (Chair), Neal Fredrickson (Vice
Chair), Amy Rhodes, Atef Idriss, Candace Barnes, Caroline Wang, Colin
Barthel, David Guilhaus, Gina Reo, James O'Donnell, Jean Anderson,
Jennifer Hughes, John Mwangi, Loralyn Ledenbach, Martin Ethy Ethy,
Michael Roberson, Neil Bogart, Oscar Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Rachel Lang,
Richard Jacobs, Roy Fenoff, Ryan Maus, Ryan Newkirk, Siman Liu,
Tracey David, Vikas Gill, and Yvonne Masters.

Number of Attendees: 23.

Board/Staff Present: Ruth Petran, Didi Loynachan, and Dina Siedenburg.

Meeting Called to Order: 11:02 a.m. Eastern Time, Friday, October 2,
2020.

Number of Attendees: 30.

Minutes Recording Secretary: Erika Estrada (Student Representative).
Old Business: The IAFP antitrust guidelines were read by the Incoming
Chair, Angela Anandappa. Angela thanked Paul Hanlon, the Outgoing
Chair for his service and contributions as the past PDG Chair. Angela
introduced and welcomed Sally Klinect as the PDG Vice Chair and Sally
spent a few minutes introducing herself.
The floor was opened for comments regarding the meeting minutes
from the 2019 PDG meeting. Michael Roberson moved to approve the
minutes and Sally Klinect seconded the motion.
Erika Estrada, the Student PDG Vice Chair served as the secretary
and provided updates to the group including the liaison program, the
3-Minute thesis competition, the mentoring program and the 2020 sessions
sponsored by the SPDG.
Symposia/Roundtables/Workshops sponsored by the PDG were
discussed. Proposals that were declined for 2020 were discussed.
New Business:
Potential topics to be further developed into 2021 proposals were
discussed and include the following topics: The creation of a standards
for allergen free food, discussing industry practices and standards for
allergen free food, the assessment of the supply chain of allergen free
food, food safety threshold for allergen free foods, verification testing for
allergen free foods, accurate definition for allergen free claims, public
safety of allergen free food, and testing the final product vs. testing a
products supply chain.
Definition of the UK- " Free from " means that all ingredients are free
from that specific allergen and the value of testing, residue limits, and
value of those limits to protecting consumer safety were discussed.
The discussion also brought up some concerns from industry
member regarding: coming up with a definition for " allergen free food, "
assuring that all ingredients in a food product are allergen free, and the
gaps in regulatory guidelines regarding this issue.
At the end of the discussion, the Chair summarized the discussion's
3 main topics: Allergen-free food risk assessment, the adoption of
standard allergen free claim testing, and validation in the supply chain.
A potential need for industry was discussed for collaboration
between industry and regulation to work towards standards in the use
of terms such as " allergen free " and similar claims.
Retail perspective topics. Michael Roberson gave a brief overview
about the addition of sesame to the list of allergens (without establishment of action limits), and FDA research around dark chocolate and the
presence of milk allergen.

Meeting Called to Order: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday, September
14, 2020.
Minutes Recording Secretary: Neal Fredrickson.
Old Business:
The meeting was called to order at 12:00 p.m. CDT. Mark
Kazmierczak reviewed the agenda and moved to approve it (Neal
Fredrickson seconded). The agenda was approved with no objections.
Dr. Kazmierczak then reviewed the anti-trust guidelines. Ruth Petran,
Board Liaison. addressed the attendees and provided an update from the
Board. Dr. Fredrickson then provided an overview of the Food Defense
PDG engagement strategy.
Dr. Kazmierczak reviewed the minutes from the 2019 Food Defense
PDG meeting. He moved to approve the minutes, and the minutes were
approved.
New Business:
Dr. Kazmierczak explained that the Vice Chair election results were
that Neal Fredrickson, as the only nominee, was selected by acclamation
to be the Vice Chair of the Food Defense PDG. Dr. Kazmierczak moved
to confirm himself as Chair of the Food Defense PDG and to confirm Dr.
Fredrickson as Vice Chair of the PDG, and the motion passed with no
objections.
Neal Fredrickson described the Food Defense PDG-sponsored
roundtable session " Synthesizing Food Defense Programs for FSMA and
Third-party Audits " scheduled to occur virtually on October 27 at 3:305:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Colin Barthel, U.S. FDA, delivered a brief presentation on updates to
the Food Safety Modernization Act Intentional Adulteration Rule and regulatory compliance inspection procedures and schedules. The audience
submitted questions to Colin and discussion ensued.
The members of the PDG discussed the process for submitting session proposal ideas for IAFP 2021, which are due November 10, 2020,
and discussed submission topics and identified interested speakers for
potential session submissions. The collected session ideas were:
1.
" Food Defense Community and Culture: What does it take
to get corporate-built plans transitioned into operations
level? "
Suggested details include: How to teach/communicate facility
leaders on food defense plan/creating a food defense culture;
selling culture to smaller/midsize producers; supply chain;

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