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Food Protection Trends COMMENTARY from the Executive Director “Our ability to meet your needs for
reliable information regarding food
safety is one of the reasons you choose
to remain an IAFP Member!
” This month, we are pleased to announce the newest symposium planned by IAFP under the title of “Timely Topics on Food Safety.” This is somewhat similar to our “Rapid Response” symposium held in September of 2006 on the subject of leafy greens. But in this case, rather than falling under a truly fast response to an issue in food safety, what we are now terming a “timely topic” as one that is of interest to a large number of food safety professionals at a given time. The topic and title for our “Timely Topics on Food Safety” is “Prepared, But Not Ready-to-Eat Foods – What You Need to Know.” This symposium will address outbreaks and regulatory issues related to prepared, but not ready-to-eat foods along with covering consumer practices and expectations. In addition, a number of presentations will dive deeper into microwave cooking, proper labeling, validation of cooking instructions, and microwave power factors that can affect cooking by this method. Experts will cover each topic in depth and the symposium will conclude with a question and answer round table. This symposium is scheduled for Thursday, January 24 at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City in Alexandria, Virginia. Registration information and additional details, including speaker names and bio-graphical information, is available at the IAFP Web site. We encourage your review of the subject and attendance if this is a topic of interest to you and your position. In addition to the Timely Topics Symposium, the American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF) and the National Meat Association (NMA) will hold an all day briefing at the same hotel on Wednesday, January 23 on recent issues revolving around The Timely Topics Symposium has been planned over a very short period of time, which is a key attribute of IAFP. The Association has the capability to identify an area of concern (prepared, but not ready-to-eat foods), then react quickly by planning an event to bring experts together to discuss this topic in great detail. You may have noted an increase in IAFP’s participation in planning opportunities for food safety professionals to come together on various topics on food safety. This is a new direction for your Association and one that is planned. The IAFP Executive Board sees this as a very valuable service that we can offer to IAFP Members and those involved in food safety. After all, our mission is “To provide food safety professionals worldwide with a forum to exchange information on protecting the food supply.” Our ability to meet your needs for reliable information regarding food safety is one of the reasons you choose to remain an IAFP Member! Along these same lines, we are continuing our planning process for three events at the present time (four if you include the Timely Topics Symposium!). In order of occurrence, we have the Latin America Symposium on Food Safety (May 26–28 in Brazil), then IAFP 2008 in Columbus, Ohio (August 3–6) and finally, the European Symposium on Food Safety (late October or early November). This is a lot to manage, but we have a number of great IAFP Members helping us out on each of these events! Along with our IAFP staff oversight, the planning of each of these events comes together smoothly. For January, I’ll leave you with a number of reminders. First, be on the lookout for your Secretary ballot which will arrive in your E-mail at the end of January. Don’t forget that this year’s election will be held electronically (review my December column for details). You may vote through March 17, but why not vote when your notification arrives? Next, the abstract submission deadline for IAFP 2008 is January 29, so do not delay in submitting your abstract for consideration! And lastly, we want to remind you to visit the IAFP Web site to find detailed information on the Timely Topics Symposium (Prepared, But Not Ready-to-Eat Foods – What You Need to Know) and the Latin America Symposium on Food Safety. That concludes this month’s column. We hope that you are proud of IAFP and the information YOUR Association provides to food safety professionals, worldwide!
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