Food Protection Trends - November/December 2024 - 484

COMMITTEE AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT GROUP MINUTES
Analysis of Foods: Causes and Resolutions " which was published in the
current July/August 2024 edition of Food Protection Trends.
The current article in progress will outline hazard analysis and riskbased
testing, and how to make decisions regarding the prioritization of
microbiological analysis. The working title is " Role of Hazard Assessments
in Driving Risk-Based Testing " and the group plans to submit the article to
FPT by the end of the year. The content of this article is also going to be
presented in a joint webinar with the Institute for the Advancement of Food
and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) microbiology committee.
Next, Julie Weller presented on the V&V subgroup for Protocols for
Inoculum Preparation and Inoculation led by Julie Weller and Oscar
Rodriguez-Gonzalez. This work is nearly ready for submission to FPT. The
overarching goal of this article is to supplement the existing guidelines for
validation microbiological methods used to test food and environmental
surfaces. It will guide the laboratory portion that happens at the bench
and explain how to apply the validation principles (such as organism
stress, bulk inoculation, etc.) to the inoculum preparation protocol to
have a successful validation. This article will be a " how-to guide " and a
great instructional reference for scientists interested in performing matrix
validations and verifications.
Amanda Brookhouser-Sisney provided an overview of the Webinar
subgroup led by Amanda Brookhouser-Sisney and Patrick Bird. The
group's initial intention was to provide an alternative forum to present the
materials created and/or authored by the V&V subgroup. In 2022, the group
presented Matrix Additions Part 1, which covered information found in the
V&V subgroup's first two publications. In 2023, they followed up with Matrix
Additions Part 2: Alternative Approaches for Rapid Pathogen Detection
Methods (November 2023), which covered expanded information found
within the more recent publications on verification and validation. The
webinar group is currently meeting to create content for Matrix Additions
Part 3, with intentions to host a webinar in Fall 2024. This webinar will
define the operating characteristics of the method with a new matrix and
outline the validation parameters provided on AOAC Appendix J, and how
they can be applied to matrix extension studies. It will also include the
content of the Protocols for Inoculum Preparation and Inoculation inprogress
publication.
Finally, the subgroup on best practices for handling and storage of
enrichments, in-process materials, media, led by Joe Meyer and Arpan
Bhagat was presented. This group is now meeting to work on a publication
under the topic of " Powerful Partnerships Promote Pathogen Prevention " .
Joe Meyer outlined that the partnership with third party labs has a
tremendous impact on the manufacturer and stressed the value of a good
partnership between a producer and their third-party lab. The group plans
to provide a resource for considerations for onboarding a new laboratory,
with the intention to establish a partnership from the outset. This group
comprises of a mix of industry and third-party laboratory personnel. They
are currently brainstorming subjective and objective ways of determining
the relationship between food and beverage industry clients and the thirdparty
pathogen testing labs. The goal is to provide practical parameters,
including literature, scoring rubrics and verbiage that promotes a culture of
accountability while meeting realistic goals of the food industry as well as
third-party testing labs.
Once the V&V subgroups completed their presentations, the floor was
opened for discussion on feedback for the ALM PDG meeting frequency
and content. The career highlight at the last ALM PDG meeting was very
informative and well received. The idea of technical presentations on
methodology was also discussed, potentially on a hot topic or something of
interest to the group. In-person attendees were encouraged to participate
in subgroup meetings as additional participants would broaden the topics
and expand the knowledge base, providing new ideas.
The PDG Chair reminded the group that symposium and roundtable
proposals for the IAFP 2025 meeting will be due soon (fall 2024).
Preliminary ideas were gathered and included a short course about
microbiology for non-microbiologists. It was noted that a workshop
at the upcoming AOAC annual meeting will encompass this topic. It is
titled " Micro and Molecular Biology for Emerging Scientists " . The group
considered converting the AOAC training into a workshop or similar at IAFP
2025. Other suggestions included a roundtable to discuss discrepancies
between rapid methods and cultural confirmation, a symposium on using
artificial intelligence (AI) in the lab, and current environmental mapping
tools.
The Vice Chair noted from the Executive Board updates, that the 2024
acceptance rate of ALM PDG-sponsored sessions was less than 50%.
The comments from the board explained that the idea submitted needs
to be well-developed. The submission should focus on the quality of the
information being presented in the submission. If the idea is not expansive
enough for a symposia or roundtable, it could be a better candidate for a
webinar.
Dan DeMarco (Chair) presented the JFP Special Topics Editions-Call for
Topics. The JFP asks that PDG members consider cutting edge topics for
a possible special issue in JFP, based on the sessions and thematic areas
of the annual meeting. The JFP asks that IAFP Annual Meeting Attendees
please take advantage of discussions within PDG communities, and
networking opportunities at the annual meeting to come up with new ideas
for the Special Issue. There were no contributions or comments from the
ALM PDG attendees at the time of the meeting.
The Chair would like to present to the Board a Proposal for ALM-PDG
Chairperson's award for outstanding service to the PDG. This award
would be given to one (or more) members of the ALM-PDG recognizing
outstanding contributions and service to the ALM-PDG in the furtherance
of its mission and the mission of IAFP. The winner would be selected by the
chairperson from nominations submitted by the ALM PDG members. Any
member can nominate any other, but there can be no self-nominations; the
chairperson is also ineligible. Other members of PDG executive committee
are eligible. The nomination would consist of short written statement (no
more than one page) by email describing why your nominee should be
considered for the award. The winner would be announced at the annual
meeting.
David Legan presented on the mentor match program. He began by
navigating to the mentor match dashboard on the IAFP webpage, to show
attendees where to access this information and utilize the mentor program.
The mentor program is available and free to all IAFP Members either as
a Mentor, Mentee or both. It is a 12-month commitment, with a meeting
once a month. More information can be found on IAFP Connect at https://
connect.foodprotection.org/mentoring.
Brad Stawick, Senior Director of the AOAC Research Institute, presented
the AOAC Appendix J revisions initiative. The objective of the Appendix J
revision is to modernize the instructions outlined in the validation protocol.
The AOAC is currently gathering support and taking volunteers who would
like to participate in the working group.
The meeting concluded with open discussion regarding the following
topics: tools for validation, including experimental design and statistical
analysis, food allergen methods, whole genome sequencing, methods for
the detection of viruses, and collaboration with other related fields, such as
clinical and public health.
484 Food Protection Trends November/December
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Food Protection Trends - November/December 2024

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