Food Protection Trends - January/February 2023 - 91

PDG HIGHLIGHT
Beverages and Acid/Acidified Foods
Professional Development Group
The Beverages and Acid/Acidified Foods Professional
Development Group's mission is to provide a forum to discuss
and develop symposia on issues facing the beverages and acid/
acidified foods industry. This PDG reaches diverse segments
of the industry from manufacturers of juices and beverages to
those processing pickles, salad dressings, and sauce products.
The PDG currently comprises of 209 members from across the
globe who see tremendous value in sharing ideas, experiences,
and best practices focused on improving public health in the
retail and foodservice industry.
We are very proud to see that this PDG has grown in size
over the years and in-person meetings have been very wellattended
every year at the annual IAFP Conference where
members openly exchange ideas on educational symposia,
roundtables, and webinars for the following year's conference.
Programs sponsored by the PDG in recent years include:
* Recent Advancements in Beverage Processing:
Considerations and Outcomes
* To be Acid or to be Acidified, That is the Question
* Not All Acids are Created Equal
* Clean-Label Antimicrobial Innovations and Applications
* Life at the Extreme: Fungal Spoilage in Low-Water
Activity, High Acid, and Thermally Processed Foods and
Beverages
* Acidified Foods: Addressing Challenges in Product
Classification Beyond Food Safety. What Role Do Water,
Syrups, and Other Low-Water Activity Ingredients Play?
IAFP 2021 was a memorable year for getting back on the
world stage with its biggest event after missing a year (inperson
meeting) because of the pandemic. IAFP 2021 marked
its first ever hybrid meeting, with an in-person conference
at the Phoenix Convention Center and virtually online open
to anyone in the world. That year, the PDG kicked off with a
very well-attended symposium titled, " The Forgotten Option:
Formulation-Based Preventive Controls for Human Foods "
developed in conjunction with the Microbial Modelling and
Risk Analysis (MMRA) and HACCP Utilization and Food
Safety Systems PDGs. This session opened up the discussion
around the current guidance for formulation-based preventive
controls as well as an industry perspective on validating these
controls and an academic approach to validation using different
options such as microbiological modeling. The objective was
to address the establishment of formulation-based preventive
controls for microbiological safety, including those for foods
historically believed to be safe but lacking in scientifically valid
controls that are also feasible for manufacturing. Believe it or
not, the same topic continues to be a hot topic and it led to
several subtopics that have been proposed for the subsequent
IAFP Conferences!
In this year's PDG meetings, the members eagerly brought
back some interesting topics. The highlight of the meeting was
during the idea-sharing session where representatives from
industry, academia, and regulatory shared session ideas and
identified potential areas of collaboration from within the group
as well as with other PDGs. Some of the proposed topics for the
upcoming IAFP conference include: acidified foods regulations:
Where are we now, validation on non-thermal technologies,
understanding the complexities and challenges of cold brew
coffee, safe harbors for processing of foods with pH 4.5 and
below, fit for use of surrogate vs. process, the importance of
proper hydration in thermal processing of aseptic and ESL
refrigerated beverages, and the role of heat-resistant molds as
a key spoiler in shelf-stable juices/juice drinks and industry
initiatives to solve this dynamic problem.
As we reflected in our mission statement, we are always
excited to welcome new members to our PDG. No matter if you
are interested in networking, sharing, learning, collaborating, or
simply listening, you are welcome to join us at any time!
May Yeow, Chairperson
April Bishop, Vice Chairperson
January/February Food Protection Trends
91
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Food Protection Trends - January/February 2023

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