The AME Food Testing Show

How to Automate a FSMA-Ready Food Safety Plan with Barbara Levin, Senior Vice President and Co-Founder, SafetyChain Software.

Barbara has spent more than 30 years helping companies understand how to leverage emerging technologies to achieve strategic and tactical business initiatives.

In her role at SafetyChain, Barbara works with food and beverage companies to increase their understanding of how Food Safety Chain Management innovations save time, save money and increase compliance efficiencies at all points in their supply chains.

Barbara is a frequent author and speaker in the food safety industry.

Agenda:

1. Introduction.

2. Why should companies consider automating their food safety plans for FSMA if they haven’t automated them up until now?

3. The key components of a FSMA food safety plan?

4. The FSMA produce and facility plan.

5. The FSMA risk assessment.

6. How automation helps with preventive controls.

7. FSMA safety plans: monitoring, validation, and corrective/preventive actions.

8. How does automation help with FSMA documentation?

9. A business case for FSMA automation?

10. Conclusion

Contact:

Barbara Levin

SVP Marketing & Customer Community

Office: 415-233-9478

Cell: 415-637-4065

http://www.safetychain.com

Salmonella, E. coli, listeria, yeast and mold, FFA/POV, aflatoxin in almonds and walnuts production with Pamela Sweeten, P. Sweeten Consulting.

She is the owner of P. Sweeten Consulting, since 2006 to present, Greater San Joaquin Valley, CA.

Pamela worked with Ryan-Parriera Almond Company, from 1992 to 2005, Los Banos, CA.

Experience:

• Experienced professional with skills in sales and marketing services to potential clients

• Proven ability to manage key account relationships and large-scale projects

• Experience presenting to senior management

• Representing senior management in discussions with clients

• Product  training and assisting clients in set up of recordkeeping

• Deep understanding and effective management of product price fluctuation; knowledge and application of computers for increased productivity; and great planning skills with extraordinary goal setting ability, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Education: California State University Stanislaus.

Agenda:

1. Intoduction.

2. What are the bacterial contamination issues for almond and walnut producers?

3. Which human pathogens are of interest: Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria?

4. Is yeast and mold a challenge?

5. What is Free Fatty Acid (FFA) in nut products?

6. What is Peroxide Value (POV) or rancidity?

7. What are the current methods to screen products for these issues?

8. Are there government standards?

9. New methods on the horizon.

10. Conclusion.

Contact:

Pamela Sweeten

P. Sweeten Consulting

209-606-1418

www.trackmycrop.com

Twitter - @trackmycrop

Facebook – P. Sweeten Consulting

Carcinogen found in Pepsi & Coke products with Charles Margulis.

Charles Margulis is the Communications Director at the Center for Environmental Health.

Prior to joining CEH, Charles was the lead campaigner for Greenpeace USA's Genetic Engineering Campaign for five years.

He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley in Peace and Conflict Studies.

He is also a graduate of the California Culinary Academy and was a long-time professional baker.

Agenda:

1. Introduction.

2. Are there any carcinogenic ingredients in cola drinks?

3. How was this data collected and validated?

4. What was the Center for Environmental Health campaign regarding 4-methylimidazole, or 4-Mel?

5. The campaign’s goals, efforts and results?

6. Future projects.

7. Conclusion.

Charles Margulis

Communications Director

Center for Environmental Health

2201 Broadway, Suite 302

Oakland, CA 94612

510.655.3900 x 305

http://www.ceh.org

@4envirohealth

Food fraud: USP’s Food Fraud Database Markus Lipp, Ph.D., Senior Director for Food Standards, U.S. Pharmacopeia.

Dr. Markus Lipp is the Senior Director for Food Standards at the U.S. Pharmacopeia.

USP is a non-profit scientific organization that sets standards for the identity, quality and purity of pharmaceuticals, food ingredients and dietary supplements.

USP publishes quality standards for food ingredients in the Food Chemicals Codex; and for dietary supplements in the Dietary Supplements Compendium.

Prior to this position, Dr. Lipp worked as the Director for Science and Research at the International Bottled Water Association and as the Global Lead for Detection Methods and Reference Materials relevant to genetically modified organisms at Monsanto Co’s headquarters in St. Louis, MO.

Dr. Lipp holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Agenda:

1. Introduction.

2. What is food fraud?

3. Is there a systematic compilation of food fraud scholarly and media articles?

4. What is the U.S. Pharmacopeia?

5. What is the U.S. Pharmacopeia database repository for ingredient fraud reports?

6. What are the risks and trends for economically motivated adulteration, authenticity, fraud, or counterfeiting of food ingredients?

7. Is there a susceptibility or vulnerability of individual ingredients to fraud?

8. Does the database include a library of detection methods reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals?

9. An extract of the information in the database is also published in the Food Chemicals Codex.

10. Article in Journal of Food Science regarding USP’s Food Ingredients Fraud Database.

11. Conclusion.

Contact:

Markus Lipp, Ph.D.

Senior Director for Food Standards

U.S. Pharmacopeia

301-230-6366

Food Recalls in the European Union with Cesare Varallo.

He began his career as a criminal lawyer, specializing in medical malpractice, white collar crimes and work injuries.

During the last two years he has been working in a law firm which represents Italian and international food industries. He can represent clients before criminal and administrative Italian courts, and before the competition authority AGCM (authority in Italy for advertising).

Agenda:

1. Introduction.

2. What are the food safety laws in the European Union?

3. What is the normal recall of a food borne outbreak in the EU?

4. Which are the typical reasons for a food product recall?

5. Where on the internet are the EU recalls found?

6. What lessons can food producers learn worldwide from these recalls?

7. Which type or notifications are put in the RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed)?

 a. There are food alerts (recalls from consumers/withdrawal from the market), but also information for attention and for follow up, nonetheless also the border rejections.

 b. They could interest food, feed or food contact materials.

 c. Between the actions taken you can see also seizures, product destruction, etc...

8. Why there are not products and companies names on RASFF?

 a. This is a very hot topic in EU! FDA publishes all the products/companies names interested by a recall. In EU it's not the same.

 b. There are a lot of discussions on this point and there were also some pronounces by the European Court of Justice.

9. His food law practice and specialty in Italy.

10. Conclusion

Cesare Varallo, Esq.

Food Lawyer

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 27, 10125 Turin, Italy

+39.3495275567

foodlawlatest.com

Food Fraud: Economically Motivated Adulteration with Mitchell K. Weinberg, LL.B.

Mitchell Weinberg is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Supply Chain Assessment Technologies Corporation (INSCATECH). INSCATECH has created a comprehensive solution to protect the world's food supply chains from FOOD FRAUD (economically motivated adulteration). Using its proprietary methodology and specially trained fraud detection professionals, INSCATECH conducts food supply chain vulnerability assessments to identify the sources of Food Fraud and to recommend mitigation solutions that help to prevent our food from being adulterated. INSCATECH has created a secure and user-friendly software tool that is used by the food industry to manage and protect food supply chains from Food Fraud.

Mitchell is a graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Pre-Law and Sociology and the McGill University School of Law in Montreal, Canada where he obtained his Common Law (LL.B) and Civil Law (B.C.L.) degrees in 1991.

1. Introduction.

2. What is food fraud?

3. Who would commit this act?

4. What is concealment?

5. What is counterfeiting?

6. What is dilution?

7. What is the grey/parallel market?

    a. Is there theft, diversion?

8. What is mislabeling?

9. What is substitution?

10. What are unapproved enhancements?

11. What does Inscatech do to help fight these food fraud acts?

12. Conclusion.

Contact:

Mitchell K. Weinberg B.A, B.C.L, LL.B

Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer

INSCATECH

373 Park Avenue South, 6th Floor

New York City, New York  10016

347-448-2790

Designing quality and safety into food products with Mr. Felix Amiri, Food Safety and Quality Systems Specialist.

Felix has worked for many international organizations over the years.

He is the Director of Technical Services at Amiri Food Industry Support Services (AFISS) and the current Food Industry Chair of the Global Coalition for Sustained Excellence in Food & Health Protection.

Felix conducts Food Safety and Quality System audits in various facilities and distribution centres throughout Canada and the U.S.

He is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), and is a Certified Quality Auditor under ASQ.

Felix is also the North American Regional Manager for World Food Safety Organisation.

1. Introduction.

2. What is food quality?

3. What is food safety?

4. What roles do design and testing play in food quality and safety

5. What is a HACCP plan?

6. Can a HACCP plan be designed to include quality and safety?

7. Specific items to include in the HACCP plan.

8. How does a company know if its FS & QS plans are accomplishing the desired purpose?

9. Conclusion.

Contact:

Felix Amiri

Food Safety and Quality Systems Specialist

(519) 323-3515

http://www.afisservices.com

Listen anytime to all AME Food Testing Show podcasts:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ames-food-testing-show-blog/id447337326

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ame-foodtestingshow.rss

Certified organic crops are not tested for human pathogens with Mischa Popoff, B.A.

Mischa Popoff is a former organic farmer and USDA-contract organic inspector. Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Author of “History of nitrogen for warfare and fertilizer” and “Is it Organic? The inside story of the organic industry.” Policy Advisor for The Heartland Institute. Research Associate for The Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He will explain how the lack of field testing in the global organic industry may have contributed to foodborne bacterial outbreaks.

Agenda:

1. Introduction

2. What is a foodborne outbreak?

3. What is a USDA-certified organic grower?

4. What are the facts about the recent organic frozen berry outbreak?

5. Did improper hand washing contribute to the outbreak?

6. Where did the protocol error occur?

7. How did the error infect 131 people in 8 states?

8. Could the virus have been introduced with improperly-composted manure?

9. Why isn’t this being discussed?

10. What measures, if any, are taken in the multibillion dollar organic industry to prevent food-borne illness (and even death) resulting from improperly-composted manure?

11. Conclusion

Contact:

Mischa Popoff, B.A. (Hons.) U. of S.

Organic farming consultant

Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada

250-495-2902

www.isitorganic.ca

For public speaking engagements or consultations, please contact the National Speakers Bureau

Sawa Matsumura, 1-800-661-4110 ext. 311, [email protected]

US Response to Foodborne Disease Outbreaks with Jennifer Nuzzo, SM.

Ms. Nuzzo is a Senior Associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security. An epidemiologist by training, Ms. Nuzzo’s work focuses on international and domestic biosurveillance, situational awareness, and disease mitigation strategies. She also has worked on issues related to water security, public/private partnerships for public health preparedness, mass critical care, and hospital preparedness.

Ms. Nuzzo is Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science.

Agenda:

Introduction. What is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for Health Security? What is the mission? How does the UPMC research the consequences of epidemics and disasters? What is the substance of the publication, “When Good Food Goes Bad: Strengthening the US Response to Foodborne Disease Outbreaks”? What are the principle lessons of the research? 40m 20K hospitalized What can food producers learn from the study? What are the roles of surveillance and rapid response in foodborne pathogen outbreaks? What is the impact of culture-based testing to determine food outbreak causes? What is the potential positive effect of FSMA? Conclusion

Click: http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/website/resources/publications/2013/2013-03-05-when_food_goes_bad.html

Jennifer B. Nuzzo, S.M.

Senior Associate

621 East Pratt Street, Suite 210

Baltimore, MD 21202

443-573-3315

UPMCHealthSecurity.org

Accuracy of Food Testing: A Concern with Christopher C. Snabes, B.S., M.S., CFS, Food Technical Specialist, the American Proficiency Institute.

Christopher C. Snabes, B.S., M.S., CFS is a Food Technical Specialist at the American Proficiency Institute (API). 

Mr. Snabes is among the first in the nation to earn the Certified Food Scientist credential – CFS – from the Institute of Food Technologists. 

This credential recognizes his knowledge and applied skills in food science. 

Mr. Snabes has been an adjunct professor at North Central Michigan College, and has worked in the private sector to improve the quality and efficiency of the food laboratory. 

Mr. Snabes is here today as the lead author of the API study, Pathogen Detection in Food Microbiology Laboratories: An Analysis of Proficiency Test Performance. 

Agenda:

1) Introduction.

2) What are food testing laboratories?

3) What do they test?

4) What is proficiency testing?

5) A report by the American Proficiency Institute (API) expresses concern about accuracy.

6) About 40,000 food laboratory proficiency tests conducted over the last 14 years.

7) Reporting: False negatives/False positives

8) Conclusion.

Contact:

American Proficiency Institute