TRAINING AND OUTREACH UPDATES |
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Virtual Good Manufacturing Practices, April 13-14, 2021
- The IFSH GMP for Food Operations course covers the new requirements specified in Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 117 (Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food). Attendees gain in-depth knowledge on these new regulatory requirements in GMP as part of the PCHF rule, and their implications to the day-to-day operations of food manufacturers.
- The course provided real-life examples and exercises on key GMP components to facilitate attendees’ participation. The learnings from this course assisted participants in compliance with FDA’s new GMP requirements for food operations. https://www.ifsh.iit.edu/special-events-conferences-and-symposiums
Virtual Better Process Control School (BPCS) – May 11-19, 2021
- The Virtual Better Process Control School (BPCS) is a school designed for manufacturers of shelf stable, acidified and low-acid foods (including pet foods). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations in 21 CFR 108, 113, and 114 require that acidified and low acid food manufacturers operate with a certified supervisor on hand at all times during production. This BPCS also meets U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations 9 CFR 431 for shelf stable, thermally processed meat and poultry products. https://www.ifsh.iit.edu/special-events-conferences-and-symposiums
- IFSH has conducted 3 company specific courses this year, thus impacting over 100 participants from around the world.
Virtual Juice HACCP Course, July 14-15, 2021
- The Virtual IFSH Juice HACCP course is an instructor-led interactive online course, using the FDA recognized standardized Juice HACCP curriculum that was developed by the IFSH/NCFST led Juice HACCP Alliance. This course is designed to meet the HACCP training requirements established under 21 CFR Part 120.13 of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's mandatory juice HACCP inspection program. https://www.ifsh.iit.edu/juice-haccp-training-curriculum
- The participants learned HACCP fundamentals, explanation of the regulations and were engaged in work sessions to develop a Juice HACCP plan.
Virtual Method Validation Workshop, August 23-26, 2021
- This course was an interactive 4-day virtual hands-on workshop with new statistical tools using a unique web-based application. The 4-day intensive virtual workshop is intended for participants to enhance their skills and understanding in establishing the performance of the qualitative method used for detection of microbes in food samples.
- Course participants gained knowledge in the following: 1) Understand the terminology of national and international validation standards (AOAC, ISO 16140); 2) Design, conduct and evaluate single-laboratory and multi-lab method validation studies; 3) Utilize the validation performance characteristics in order to establish quality control measures and make decisions regarding the appropriate use of microbiological methods; 4) Optimize testing strategies; and 5) Design, conduct and evaluate method verification studies
- We had a cap of 20 participants from around the world attend this course.
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Technical Connections Meeting (TCM) – June 8, 2021
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We hosted a successful live webinar on “Luminescence-based Nanobiosensors for rapid detection of botulinum neurotoxins in foods”, given by Timothy V. Duncan, Ph.D.
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You can find the full presentation here
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IFSH Annual Meeting – September 21-22, 2021
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The IFSH Annual Meeting and Task Force meetings this year provided an interactive forum for our stakeholders from industry, government and academia, to share some of the latest developments in the FDA/IFSH/industry collaborative research programs.
- We had record high registrants for the Annual Meeting of 221 registrants: 75 from industry, 36 from IIT colleagues/students, 110 FDA.
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Task Force Meetings - September 14-17, 2021 (Juice & Beverage Safety, Sprout Safety, Low Moisture Foods Safety and Toxicology PPP)
- IFSH members, to view what was covered during this year’s IFSH Annual Meeting, click 2021 Meetings to access meeting details.
IFSH-FRI Annual Symposia – September 27-30, 2021
- This year's IFSH-FRI Symposia focused on Cleaning and sanitation being crucial components of a good food safety plan, so the symposia explored more into “Environmental Controls: Emerging Technologies and Predictive Analytics to Address Complex Sanitation Challenges”. Subjects such as, Hygienic Zoning, new technologies in environmental sampling, and plant microbiome were covered.
- Attendees participated in one of the 4 assigned Breakout group sessions after being assigned to develop a plan for environmental testing. The attendees came prepared to discuss these plans based on their assigned group (Low Moisture Foods, Frozen Foods, Short Shelf-Life Foods and Plant-based Proteins).
FSPCA Virtual Annual Conference – October 20-21, 2021
- The FSPCA Annual Conferences are intended to serve our FSPCA community by sharing the latest developments in the various FSMA rule standardized training curricula and activities, providing support to FSPCA Lead Instructors and course participants, fostering an interactive forum for participants to hear from FDA officials on inspection results, as well as from industry leaders on experiences in complying with the FSMA regulations.
- We had a record high of 291 participants from 21 countries this year. The list above is a summary of the agenda.
- A pdf version of the presentations at the Annual Conference is available on the FSPCA website. You can also access prior Newsletters when going to the FSPCA website.
- If you would like to keep up to date on FSPCA and receive future issues of the newsletters, click FSPCA Signup.
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Awards and Recognition
Congratulations to Stephen F. Grove, formerly Manager for Food Safety and HACCP, Nestlé Development Center, who received the prestigious 2021 Darsh Wasan IFSH Food Safety Award. It was presented to him during the 2021 IFSH Annual Meeting.
New Appointments/Hires
- The selection of Nate Anderson, Ph.D. to serve as the Acting Director, Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, effective on August 2, 2021.
- Appointment of Jason Wan, Ph.D. to serve as Interim Director, Institute of Food Safety and Health, effective on August 11, 2021.
- Welcome Yikai Yang to IFSH as a Support Specialist, Microbiology. Yikai will work with Dr. Tongjen Fu of FDA, on an FDA funded special project on sprout safety. Yikai is a recent graduate from our very own Master of Food Safety and Technology program, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, IIT.
Open Positions
- IFSH Executive Director
- Senior Scientist Microbiology Sprout Safety
- Scientist Microbiology
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FDA updates on efforts to assist U.S. companies with China’s new food facility regulation - On October 22, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published an update on its efforts to assist US companies on China’s implementation of a new registration requirement for all food facilities importing foods into China that is set to become effective January 1, 2022. Food facilities may be prohibited from importing products into China unless they are registered. Different requirements are established for the registration depending upon the type of food being imported.
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HOLD THE DATE NOW for our 2022 Annual Meeting, to be held on September 20-21, 2022. Location TBD
- Stayed tuned for more information on upcoming IFSH activities.
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As we begin to prepare for the holidays
Doesn’t matter how and when we choose to celebrate
It’s a time to come together again with family
Eat lots of things we enjoy and not worry about our weight
We are once again thankful for all that we’ve been given
Children get to open presents, let’s face it, whether they’re naughty or nice
But at the end of the day, it’s the joy in their faces we cherish
Maybe you’ll get lucky enough to get a hug, a kiss…once or maybe twice
I know this year has been such a whirlwind, and it keeps on going
But remember, together we can change what we do for next year, in 2022
Let’s put this all behind us and start our year with a bang
At this point, I think we’re all just hoping that none of us will get the flu
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Tina Gettis
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Published by the Institute of Food Safety and Health |
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