IIT IFSH is proud to present several timely symposia on emerging issues in food safety and technology at IAFP's Annual Meeting, the food protection profession's premier event. We look forward to seeing you in Providence!

S7 Measuring and Managing Norovirus Cross-contamination Risks in the Food Service Environment

Mon., July 23, 2012: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM

Ballroom D (Rhode Island Convention Center)

Organizers: Stephen Grove and Katherine Swanson

Convenors: Alvin Lee and Katherine Swanson

Since 2008, researchers from the Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology (formerly National Center for Food Safety and Technology), Rutgers University, and collaborators from FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Ecolab USA, have been collaborating to examine cross-contamination of NoV during common procedures used in preparation of fresh produce in a food service setting. The NoV transfer data, which has been collected using more than 120 volunteers, is being incorporated into a quantitative risk assessment to evaluate the risk reduction of worker behavior as a result of the research findings. The symposium will provide an opportunity for the project team to report their findings, discuss the potential for NoV transmission through a retail food service setting, as well as educational elements to change working behavior.

• 10:30 AM Transfer of Noroviruses During Preparation of Fresh Produce, Carol Shieh, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CFSAN / IIT IFSH

• 11:00 AM Determining the Risk of Norovirus During Food Service Preparation of Fresh Produce, Donald Schaffner, Rutgers University

• 11:30 AM Observing Behavior in the Kitchen and Educating Food Service Personnel, Miriam Eisenberg, EcoSure, a Division of Ecolab

S31 Harmonization of Methods to Evaluate and Validate Preventive Controls

Wed., July 25, 2012: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Room 555-556 (Rhode Island Convention Center)

Organizers: Alvin Lee , Purnendu Vasavada and Zhinong Yan

Convenors: Alvin Lee , Purnendu Vasavada and Zhinong Yan  

The 111th U.S. Congress passed S510 in 2010 known as FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), enacted Jan. 4, 2011. There are now new responsibilities for food manufacturers and food producers. One of these responsibilities is to identify hazard and develop preventive controls based on that hazard and verification process that the developed preventative control significantly minimizes or prevents those hazards. In this whole new world of process control or development of a process to address a specific hazard, new questions arises on what and when to do and how to get to a specific goal. This symposium aims to address questions that food manufacturers and food producers will face and how academia and researchers can interact to address questions and issues on validation of processes.

• 8:30 AM: What is Validation and Verification of a Preventive Control? Larry Keener, International Product Safety Consultants

• 9:00 AM: Criteria Used to Evaluate a Validated Process or Preventive Control, John Larkin, FDA CFSAN  

• 9:30 AM: Harmonization of Methods for Validation and Verification, Russell Flowers, Silliker Group Corp.

S34 Sprout Safety: What We've Done, What We've Learned and How We Can Continue to Move Forward

Wed., July 25, 2012: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Room 552 (Rhode Island Convention Center)

Organizers: Tong-Jen Fu, Robert Sanderson and Michelle Smith

Convenor: Tong-Jen Fu  

Since 1996, contaminated sprouts have been linked to at least 30 outbreaks and over 2,000 cases of illness in the U.S. Globally, the concern about consumption of raw sprouts has increased significantly after the 2011 outbreaks associated with contaminated fenugreek sprouts which resulted in more than 4,000 illnesses and 50 deaths in Germany and France. This symposium will review the issues and challenges associated with sprout food safety from both an industry and a regulatory perspective. To ensure sprout safety, it is clear that collaboration among stakeholders across the "farm-to-table" continuum is critical. The symposium will also showcase a number of initiatives taken by the industry, government, and academia to help advance sprout food safety.

• 8:30 AM Enhancing Sprout Food Safety through Partnership: It Takes a Village, Tong-Jen Fu, US FDA CFSAN

• 8:40 AM The State of the Sprout Industry: A Food Safety Perspective, Robert Sanderson, Jonathan Sprouts Inc.

• 9:00 AM Sprout Food Safety: A U.S. Regulatory Perspective, Michelle Smith, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

• 9:20 AM Best Practices for Safer Production of Sprouts: A Grower's Perspective, Mansour Samadpour, LifeForce Foods  

• 9:40 AM Best Practices for Safer Production of Sprouts: A Seed Supplier's Perspective, Bob Rust, International Specialty Supply 

IIT IFSH welcomes three new corporate partners to  

its industry membership roster:

H.J. Heinz 

American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS)

Episensors

Recent Grant Awards Announced   

Three grants were recently awarded to the following IIT IFSH and FDA CFSAN/IFSH researchers:

Stephen Grove, PhD, and Elizabeth Grasso, PhD, Best Practices for Cleaning and Sanitizing Nut Butter Processing Equipment: One-year, $159,737 grant from International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) North America.

Alvin Lee, PhD, et al., Validation Strategies for Produce Wash: One-year $300,000 FDA Special Project grant.

Nathan Anderson, PhD, et al., Points of Safe Harbor for Extruded Low Moisture Foods Safety: One-year $278,000 FDA Special Project grant.

candidates for their student presentations on May 17. The panel of judges - Diana Stewart, Karthik Pillai, Kathir Krishnamurthy and Stephen Grove - ranked the presentations based on the following criteria: quality of scientific research, slides, and oral presentation. The awards were presented by Drs. Robert Brackett, Darsh Wasan and Richard McDonald to:

• First place: Hanshuai Zhang, MS degree candidate, Food Safety and Technology

• Second place: Jingxin Guo, MS degree candidate, Food Process Engineering

• Third place: Wenjing Li, MS degree candidate, Food Safety and Technology