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Issue 14

April 2014

LETTER FROM DIRECTOR

Welcome to the newly reinvigorated IFSH INSIGHT newsletter. It's been a while since we have published our newsletter and we are thrilled to be able to once again share our activities with you. We anticipate using IFSH Insight to communicate with you on a quarterly basis, and also increase our use of social media to reach as many of you as possible.

It's been a long, cold winter here in Chicago, but IFSH has nevertheless been very busy, and we are eager to share with you what has been transpiring.

IFSH has been instrumental in the growth of the educational program of IIT for a number of years, but you may not have known that we established an actual academic unit to administer our food related educational activities. Because of the overwhelming interest in food safety and food processing, we officially established the Department of Food Science and Nutrition in May 2013. The goal of our fledgling department is to produce a cadre of students who are prepared to address the complex challenges of our global food systems in a practical and applied manner. Check out our Food Science Degree Program to learn more about the new department.

We recently held our 2014 IFSH Mid-Year Meeting at the Burr Ridge Conference Center and it was a great success! I hope you were able to attend, but if you missed it, here are a few highlighted topic areas - our successful Preventative Control Summit 2013 meeting, FDA's Proposed Rule to Protect Food against Intentional Adulteration, arsenic in rice, dairy safety, safety of low moisture foods, and so much more! As always, a high point of the meeting was the opportunity for FDA, IIT and industry scientists to interact and discuss practical aspects about food safety and nutrition in an open forum. Your next opportunity to participate in an IFSH meeting will be our Annual Meeting, scheduled for September 16 and 17, 2014. I invite you to set aside those dates for attendance at the upcoming Annual Meeting. Details will be forthcoming.

The next few months will be busy ones as we ramp up for summer scientific meetings and conferences. Stay tuned for more information regarding IFSH participation in those meetings and other upcoming activities.

Have a great Spring.

Bob

Robert E. Brackett, PhD
IIT Vice President and IFSH Director

MEETINGS and EVENTS

IFSH Mid-Year Member Meeting

The IFSH Mid-Year Meeting was held at the Burr Ridge Conference Center, Burr Ridge, IL, on March 25-26, 2014. There were 166 attendees with 36 representatives present from the food industry. The meeting included an update on CFSAN activities by the Director of CFSAN, Mike Landa, J.D., as well as presentations on IFSH's current scientific activities and collaborative opportunities available within the membership at IFSH. For a complete description of meeting activities, see the Events Page.

IFSH MEMBERSHIP

IFSH Welcomes New Industry Members

Evolution Fresh (Starbucks) and Novolyze joined IFSH in the first quarter of 2014. IFSH membership is now at 72 member companies. Visit this link to see a list of all IFSH Members.

2013 Annual Report of Research (ARR)

IFSH members can now access the 2013 ARR. The most current edition, as well as an archive of available ARR reports from 1999-2012, are posted for download in PDF format.

To access the ARR log into the Members Only Section of the IFSH website and click on "Annual Report of Research."

ALLIANCE UPDATES
Food Safety Preventive Control Alliance (FSPCA) - As the deadline for publication of the final preventive control rule inches closer, the FSPCA committees and subcommittees have been working hard in developing the curriculum as well as the business and outreach plans. Please visit the FSPCA website for up-to-date meeting summaries and Alliance happenings.

EDUCATION UPDATES

Twelve new students enrolled in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition's graduate degree programs for the Spring 2014 semester, bringing the total current enrollment to 162 students, with 44 Master of Science degree candidates, 107 Professional Master degree candidates, 10 in Certificate programs and one non-degree student.

The Department of Food Science and Nutrition will be offering three courses for the Summer 2014 Semester. Each is being offered at IIT's Main Campus as well as via the internet. See Upcoming Courses for more detail.

FST/FPE 504 Food Biotechnology
Wei Zhang, Ph.D.
FST/FPE 511 -Food Law and Regulations
Richard Schell, JD
FST/FPE 522- Advanced Food Process Engineering
Kathiravan Krishnamurthy, Ph.D.

We are now accepting applications for the upcoming Food Processing Specialist Certificate Program starting in the August 2014. This program is designed to provide a broad working knowledge of technical elements of thermal processing systems (with understanding of alternative technologies) to qualify at an intermediate level as a recognized Food Processing Specialist. Please download the Food Processing Specialist Program flier (.pdf) for more information on candidate eligibility and program structure. See the 2014-2015 course schedule (.pdf) for dates and times.

For more information on IFSH education programs, please contact Renee McBrien, Manager, Education and Outreach, 708.563.8271

RESEARCH GRANTS and PROJECTS
Wei Zhang, Ph.D., has received an USDA NIFA AFRI Foundational Program award on "Molecular mechanisms underlying Salmonella attachment to fruits and nuts" for 3 years starting from December 2013.

IFSH ON THE ROAD and IN THE PRESS

Britt Burton-Freeman, Ph.D., was invited to speak at the following meetings and event:

South East Regional Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Annual Meeting. Dr. Burton-Freeman spoke in two sessions: "Health Benefits Research and Contribution to Public Health Policy" and "Health Benefits Research and Industry: Farm to Consumer"
California Strawberry Commission Annual Meeting
Strawberry Society Dinner and Education Event

Robin Kalinowski presented at the 2nd Annual Food Labs Conference at McCormick Place on March 4. The Food Labs Conference is a 2-day conference held in conjunction with PittCon that focuses on providing information that will help lab managers to run their food lab better, in compliance with new regulations and more efficiently. Robin's presentation was on statistical sampling plans for quantitative and qualitative microbiological analysis.

IFSH Director, Robert Brackett, Ph.D., and Eric Larson of Safe Foods International Holding appeared on WTTW's show "Chicago Tonight" to talk on Food Safety.

IFSH Director Robert Brackett, Ph.D., shared his expertise at the Good Food Festival, delivered an address to the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, spoke at the 14th Annual Illinois Food Safety Symposium and talked to a Local News Station About Foodborne Illness.

Illinois Institute of Technology's (IIT) Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) is a one-of-a-kind applied food science research institute that provides stakeholders in government, industry and academia the opportunity to develop and exchange knowledge and expertise to address key issues in food safety, food defense and nutrition. Located at IIT's Moffett Campus in Bedford Park, IL, IFSH is also home to the FDA CFSAN Division of Food Processing Science and Technology. For more, visit www.iit.edu/ifsh