The first quarter of 2012 has got off to a dynamic start, as strategic planning commences with IIT IFSH's Executive Advisory Board, center directors, and management staff. Our goal is to define and execute a number of objectives identified in December in order to better serve the food safety, food defense and nutrition research needs of our members and stakeholders.  

 

Currently, IIT IFSH team members organized into several working groups are proceeding apace with strategic development activities designed to capitalize on IIT IFSH's expanded core competencies, technical capabilities and expertise in order to provide all stakeholders with the highest level of practical, authoritative science going forward. We are looking forward to communicating our progress with you in the near future, so stay tuned!    

 

On another note, IIT IFSH is proud to partner with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Food Research Institute to bring our members and stakeholders a unique opportunity to learn about the latest in mycotoxin issues and solutions. The Joint IIT IFSH/UW FRI Mycotoxin Symposium to be held April 12, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare will feature a number of expert speakers on critical topics of concern to the food industry, and I encourage you to check out the preliminary program in this issue of IFSH Insight and register today.

 

Best regards,

 

Robert E. Brackett, PhD

IIT Vice President and IFSH Director, IFSH

 

IFSH Mid-Year Meeting

April 10-11, 2012

Burr Ridge Conference Center / IIT IFSH Moffett Campus

Burr Ridge, IL / Bedford Park, IL

 

This year's IFSH Mid-Year Meeting will be held at two locations. The member-only meeting kicks off at the Burr Ridge Conference Center, Tuesday, April 10, with an opening plenary session featuring updates from the IFSH director and center directors, and FDA CFSAN leaders, and an evening reception. On Wednesday, April 11, attendees move to the IFSH facility in Bedford Park, where working group breakout sessions will commence, covering a variety of topics of importance to FDA and the food industry. 

 

Details about the Mid-Year Meeting program, registration and hotel accommodations will be posted to the Member-only pages in the coming weeks.

 

 

Joint IIT IFSH/UW FRI  

Mycotoxin Symposium

April 12, 2012

Crowne Plaza, Chicago O'Hare

Rosemont, IL

 

IIT's Institute for Food Safety and Health and the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Food Research Institute are partnering to host a one-day symposium designed for food safety and quality assurance professionals involved in the processing and production of grain and grain-based ingredients and finished food and beverage products.  

 

The Joint IFSH/FRI Mycotoxin Symposium brings together experts from academia, government and industry to help food safety and quality assurance professionals gain critical insight into mitigating mycotoxin risks to their companies' products, consumers and bottom lines in this interactive educational setting. Topics include: 

• Overview of mold contamination and mycotoxin production
• Biological effects of mycotoxin exposure
• Novel approaches to prevent production of and reduce biological effects of mycotoxins in grains
• Novel methods for detecting and quantifying mycotoxins in grains and food matrices
• Government regulation of mycotoxin levels in North America, Canada and Europe

PROGRAM
For a full roster of speakers and presentation titles, along with the day's agenda, please visit the Events page at the IFSH website. 

 

REGISTER TODAY

Space is limited. Click here for online registration and take advantage of the early bird rate!

 

RATES

Early Bird Rate (available through March 2):  $250

Regular Rate (March 3-March 20):  $325

 

HOTEL

Take advantage of our special discounted hotel rate by using the Group Name "Mycotoxin Symposium" when you call 877.337.5793, or access the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare website.

 

QUESTIONS?

Contact LaShondra Stephens at lstephe2@iit.edu.

 

SPONSORSHIP

For information about sponsorship opportunities at the Joint IIT IFSH/UW FRI Mycotoxin Symposium, please contact Julie Larson Bricher at jbricher@iit.edu, or call 503.409.9421.

 

 

PeopleFlo Manufacturing, Inc.

 

PeopleFlo Manufacturing's core capability is creating fully integrated turnkey product lines to help companies build sustainable businesses - enduring businesses that use fewer resources and generate more value. PeopleFlo offers unique sanitary pump designs and general processing technologies to deliver important reductions in the key areas of processing costs and food safety risks.

 

Wenger Manufacturing, Inc.

 

Wenger offers a range of premium single-screw extruders, twin-screw extruders, dryers/ coolers, flavor coating and enrobing systems, and control systems. The company will be participating in a number of collaborative and proprietary projects at IIT IFSH, including participation in the institute's Low Moisture Food Safety Task Force.   

   

For more information about becoming an industry member of IIT IFSH, please contact Armand Paradis, Director, Business Development.     

 

 

FSPCA Establishes Executive, Steering Committees                  

The IIT IFSH-coordinated Food

Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) held its first face-to-face Organizing Committee meeting December 20-21, 2011, in Washington, DC. The meeting was attended by more than 28 committee members, representing government agencies (FDA and USDA), industry associations, and land-grant universities and extension services. The meeting confirmed the governing structure and objectives of the FSPCA and established an industry-led Executive Committee and Steering Committee to drive the development of a standardized food safety preventive controls training curriculum that will assist the food industry with meeting the requirements of Food Safety Modernization Act-mandated regulations.

 

In the coming weeks, IIT IFSH will launch a stakeholder-accessible area on the university's website featuring alliance progress updates, coordinator and committee contacts, and industry resources.  

 

BSL-3 Select Agent License Awarded

 

On January 19, 2012, IIT IFSH received notification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that its application for a select agent license was approved for the Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory and biocontainment pilot plant. The certificate of registration authorizes the facility to possess, use and transfer specific select agents and toxins under the conditions specified in the application for the CDC Select Agent Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Agricultural Select Agent Programs. The select agents specified are important to conducting practical food safety and food defense related research in the unique BSL-3 facility at the Moffett Campus.   

 

Congratulations to project leader Margaret Juergensmeyer, PhD, RBP

IFSH Biosafety Officer, and team members Ed Steiner, IFSH Director of Facilities, Alvin Lee, PhD, Director, IFSH Center for Processing Innovation, Patrick Ginty, Facility Engineer, and IIT VP and IFSH Director Robert Brackett, PhD. 

 

For more information on IFSH task forces, consortia, and BSL-3 facility and other research contracts, please contact Armand Paradis, Director, Business Development.    

 

 

IFSH WELCOMES NEW STAFF

         

Daryaei

Hossein Daryaei, PhD, has joined IFSH as a scientist with a focus on Clostridium botulinum-related projects.  Hossein recently completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at The Ohio State University, researching emerging processing technologies for food safety and quality applications. At IFSH, he will serve as microbiological lead on the High Pressure Research Consortium and high pressure processing-extended shelf life projects.

Ebert

 

FDA DFPST at IIT IFSH is pleased to announce the addition of two ORISE Fellows:    

 

Samantha Ebert is an FDA - ORISE Microbiologist, LPET. Her expertise is in the areas of proficiency testing and methods development. Ebert holds a BS in biology. 

Karthik Pillai, PhD, is an FDA - ORISE Chemist, PEB.

Pillai

His expertise is in the areas of polymer science and nanocomposites. Pillai holds a PhD in macromolecular science and engineering.    

 

Access our online Staff Directory to send these individuals a note of congratulations!

 

New Publications       

 

IIT IFSH researchers Ravi Kiran Tadapaneni, Katarzyna Banaszewski Eduardo Patazca, Indika Edirisinghe, Jack Cappozzo, Lauren Jackson and Britt Burton-Freeman's latest paper, "Effect of High-Pressure Processing and Milk on the Anthocyanin Composition and Antioxidant Capacity of Strawberry-Based Beverages," has been published as an online preprint in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
        The publication reports on the team's investigation into the effect of different processing methods on the antioxidant capacity and anthocyanin content of strawberry-based beverages with and without milk. Research findings indicate that high pressure processing technology may be advantageous to traditional thermal pasteurization methods for protecting health-promoting antioxidants without compromising food safety.

On January 30, the Los Angeles Times' Heath section featured an article about bagged salad and produce safety. In "Salad Industry on Hunt for Solution to Tainted Greens," writer Deborah Schoch interviews IFSH member Will Daniels of Earthbound Farm, who describes the high-power ultrasound tests his company is funding at IIT's Institute for Food Safety and Health.

IIT VP and IFSH Director Robert Brackett, PhD, is the invited keynote speaker for the Global Midwest Alliance's symposium, "The Opportunity - and Challenge - of Expanding Food Imports to the United States," to be held March 1, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Dr. Brackett will present, "How Importers Can Prepare for the Impact of the Food Safety Modernization Act."
        This informative and interactive seminar, held in a central point for the distribution of food across the U.S., will bring together foreign exporters and domestic importers; buyers, purchasing agents, and procurement management from a range of food processing companies; regulators at local, state, and federal levels; and a broad array of groups with an interest in expanding the international food trade. Please click here to download a seminar brochure for more information or to register.