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will set up a follow up call to discuss the proposals submitted after the
submission deadline of November 10. He also suggested that some IAFP
sponsored auditing webinars might generate more interest in the committee and to aid progressing the mission of the group.
Recommendations to the Executive Board:
1. Recommend the Board approve Tracie Sheehan as incoming Vice
Chair for the Food Safety Assessment, Auditing and Inspection
PDG.
Next Meeting Date: July 18-21, 2021, Phoenix, Arizona.
Meeting Adjourned: 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Chairperson: Andrew Clarke.

Food Safety Culture
Attendees (September 23, 2020): Lone Jespersen (Chair), Laura Dunn
Nelson (Vice Chair), Adam Kramer, Alexis Hamilton, Alison Cousins,
Angela Bernoski, Bertrand Emond, Bill Huntley, Brenda Halbrook, Brian
Himelbloom, Briana Burke, Brita Ball, Carol Wallace, Caroline Wang,
Carolyn Trabert, Conrad Choiniere, David Buckley, Dina Scott, Donald
Prater, Elizabeth Demmings, Elizabeth Williams, Ellen Evans, Ellen
Shumaker, Emma Samuel, Eric Moore, Ethan Reggia, Gale Prince,
Greta Tessman, Hannah Bolinger, Jack Burnett, Jennifer Hughes, Jill
Hollingsworth, Jill Stuber, Jose A Bolanos, Joyce Wert, Julian Graham,
Kara Baldus, Kasey Ward, Katy Kadlec, Kolawole Banwo, Kory Anderson,
Larry Steenson, Laurel Burke, Laurel Burke, Lidia Vidal, Margarita
Gomez, Mary Gillespie, Megan Jensen, Megan Kenjora, Melody
Ge, MiKayla Mentzer, Michael Johnston, Michael Roberson, Nathan Libbey,
Neil Bogart, Patrick Pimentel, Paula Herald, Peter Hibbard, Rounaq
Nayak, Ruplal Choufhary, Ryan Maus, Sarah Azinheiro, Sara Mortimore,
Sharon Birkett, Shingai Nyarugwe, Tayo Irawo, Vanessa Bussiere, Vikas
Gill, Yvonne Masters, Zeb Blanton, and Chris (no last name provided).
Attendees (September 24, 2020): Lone Jespersen (Chair), Laura Dunn
Nelson (Vice Chair), Adam Kramer, Alexis Hamilton, Alison Cousins,
Andrew Clarke, Angela Bernoski, April Bishop, Austin Welch, Bertrand
Emond, Bill Cunningham, Bill Huntley, Brian Himelbloom, Briana Burke,
Brita Ball, Caroline Wang, David Buckley, Elizabeth Demmings, Ellen
Evans, Ellison Cunningham, Emma Samuel, Eric Moore, Jack Burnett,
Jason White, Jennifer Hughes, Jill Hollingsworth, Jose A Bolanos, Julian
Graham, Kasey Ward, Katy Kadlec, Larry Steenson, Laurel Burke,
Loralyn Ledenbach, Margarita Gomez, Marie Tanner, Megan Jensen,
Megan Kenjora, Melody Ge, Michael Johnston, Mike Batz, Neil Bogart,
Neil Coole, Nicola Sharman, Patrick Pimentel, Peter Hibbard, Romina
Zanabria Eyzaguirre, Sally Klinect, Sharon Birkett, Shingai Nyarugwe,
Tayo Irawo, Tim Stubbs, Vanessa Bussiere, and Vikas Gill.
Board/Staff Present: Ruth Petran, Didi Loynachan, and Dina Siedenburg.
Number of Attendees: 74 (September 23), 56 (September 24).
Meeting Called to Order: 11:06 a.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday,
September 23, 2020; 11:01 a.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, September
24, 2020.
Minutes Recording Secretary: Alexis Hamilton.
Old Business: Lone Jespersen, PDG Chair, welcomed all attendees, introduced the agenda and speakers for the meetings, disclosed recording
and accessibility information, thanked all who attended and worked on
the webinars as part of the Food Safety Culture webinar series, mentioned progress on a trends paper related to content discussed throughout the webinar series, and congratulated Andrew Clarke on his industry
award.
Ruth Petran, IAFP Vice President, gave an update to PDG members from the IAFP executive board. Ruth thanked all members for their
work to promote food safety, protection, culture throughout the industry,
encouraged all to register for IAFP 2020, and asked that members join
IAFP in its ongoing conversations on diversity and inclusion within the
organization.
Laura Nelson, PDG Vice Chair, discussed the purpose of the PDG
and its use and application within and across industries, encouraged
involvement in the development of content for 2020-2021, and asked
that members communicate with the leadership team through the PDG
through the IAFP FSC PDG Connect page if members' interests or needs
were not being met.

Alexis Hamilton, Student PDG Liaison to the PDG, thanked all who
participated in the recent food safety culture materials repository survey.
Alexis reported the current results, which were organized into three main
content areas (print materials, in-house operations, and outside or shared
resources), and asked that members please submit additional materials, suggestions, or other relevant material through the second survey
which will be opened after the PDG meetings and close after IAFP 2020,
after which the full repository will be compiled and posted on the PDG's
Connect page.
New Business:
Conrad Choiniere, with support from Donald Prater, gave an update
about the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition's initiative to (1)
promote food safety culture throughout the food safety system, (2)
promote food safety within and across the FDA's own agency, and (3)
develop and promote smarter food safety among consumers. Donald
emphasized that it would be helpful to assess and measure food safety
culture from a risk mitigation perspective to incorporate into oversight
work. Jose Bolanos asked what progress had been made in this initiative
to date? Conrad confirmed that work on this initiative has begun and
asked that members reach out with suggestions or preferences for engagement in this endeavor. Lastly, an invitation was extended to all PDG
members to join the FDA and USDA on October 6th for a public meeting
on consumer education entitled " Food Safety: Consumer Outreach and
Education Today and for the Future " go to https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2020/08/25/2020-18589/food-safety-consumer-outreach-andeducation-today-and-for-the-future. Carol Wallace introduced the PDG
to what the Salus Research Network is, the activities it has conducted,
and its future aspirations. This science group is actively researching food
safety culture and related fields, founded upon trust, honesty, and respect
of shared materials, and focused on achieving consensus in understanding based on science to give rigor to the field. Members have collaborated on research papers, worked on a framework to describe food safety
culture and its interaction within food businesses, supported the work
of graduate students, and funding proposals across the globe to widen
the food safety culture network of academic, business, and food chain
stakeholders. Carol, with support from Sara Mortimore, shared that Salus
is looking for new members who are researching in the field or interested
in participating in research to reach out to be connected.
Rounaq Nayak discussed his research, with Lone Jespersen, focused on the regulatory perspective of food safety culture and the use of
technology to make culture more consistent. A review of regulations and
regulatory agencies is underway to create a globally applicable framework for comparing food safety regulations between and within countries.
The study is expected to be completed and available for view by January
2021. Neil Bogart asked if this project was addressing the inconsistencies
between maturity and implementation because differences in regulations
will not make a difference in enhancing food safety culture within the
industry if these businesses cannot be held accountable. Lone responded
that this project attempted to increase proficiency across industry and
how to improve culture consistently.
Andrew Clarke, with support from Neil Coole, explained the BRCGS
START program to aid small businesses in developing their food safety
culture through a stepped audit approach to full certification. The certification process includes four steps: (1) learn and review content related to
a strong food safety culture, (2) preparation through training, (3) planning
for the company's future through a gap analysis of existing practices, and
(4) an audit relevant to the step chosen. Nicola Sharman asked if smaller
businesses can remain on START or if they are expected to progress to
the full standard. Andrew said that BRCGS did not mandate that participants complete the program to full certification, but that BRCGS supported participants make progress that support their own business needs and
priorities. Patrick Pimentel asked when the next version of the document
would be available. Andrew confirmed there was uncertainty about an
exact date, but that it would occur after version 9 of the current standard
was released and the new document would reflect those changes.
Neil Coole informed the PDG about work to develop Publicly Available Specification 320: " A Culture of Food Safety. " A steering group has
been developed to help create a practical guide to creating a culture of
food safety within the industry. Neil mentioned that there were two ways
to get involved in this group: (1) as a member of the steering group to
shape the development of PAS 320 or (2) as a part of the review panel
which will be detached from the steering group to effectively evaluate its
progress while remaining close to the content presented with the docu-

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https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/25/2020-18589/food-safety-consumer-outreach-and-education-today-and-for-the-future https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/25/2020-18589/food-safety-consumer-outreach-and-education-today-and-for-the-future https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/25/2020-18589/food-safety-consumer-outreach-and-education-today-and-for-the-future
Food Protection Trends - January/February 2021

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