Food Safety Issues Will Be Focus of AAFP Conference at UA

Innovate Arkansas E-newsletter

Food Safety Issues Will Be Focus of AAFP Conference at UA

Posted in Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Innovate Arkansas Clients, events by mcarter on August 23rd, 2012

The University of Arkansas will host a conference focusing on emerging issues in food safety.

The Arkansas Association for Food Protection will hold its annual education conference Sept. 11-12 at the UA’s global campus conference center on the square in downtown Fayetteville at 2 East Center.

Get more information on the event, or better yet register to attend, here.

Here’s more from Brian Umberson of IA client firm Vivione Biosciences, which “dabbles” in food safety:

A few of the issues that will be presented at the conference:

What are the expected benefits and costs of implementing whole-chain traceability for the food industry using the beef industry as an example? Presented by the National Whole-Chain Traceability Institute, a consortium of industry, universities and regulators;

An overview of the Food Safety Modernization Act will be presented by the FDA Southwest Regional Office, Dallas, Texas;

What do we know and what do we need to find out to control Shiga toxin producing E. coli in ground beef? Presented by Randy Phebus, Kansas State University;

HACCP verification studies for beef and poultry, presented by Tyson Foods;

What’s the role for traceability in supporting sustainability? Presented by the Wal-Mart Sustainability Consortium;

Verifying the role of employee training in implementing food safety;

What we know and think we know about verifying long-term behavior changes from training employees in food safety, presented by Phil Crandall, University of Arkansas;

Is there a role for third parties in your employee training programs? Presented by Zeb Blanton, Global Key Account Manager at SGS North America;

How do you know you’ve sufficiently trained your employees? Presented by Laura Nelson, Alchemy, Industry Relations Director;

Reducing the risk of Norovirus and Listeria contamination from the field to the table;

Challenges of norovirus infection and implications on foodborne transmission, presented by Marli Azevedo, FDA, NCTR;

Disinfection of norovirus at the field level — the role of farm workers’ gloves in cross-contamination events, presented by Jennifer Cannon, Center for Food Safety, University of Georgia;

Reducing the risk of norovirus cross-contamination at the retail level, presented by Kristen Gibson, Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science,  University of Arkansas;

Allergens in food processing, presented by Jeff Castillo, Global Corporate Quality Assurance Manager, Newly Weds Foods;

Sensory – how do customers perceive salt and what practical ways can we use to increase sodium perception? Presented by Han-Seok Seo, University of Arkansas.