Stop Foodborne Illness Hosts Fundraising Event
The CDC estimates that 3000 people die from foodborne illness annually. Stop Foodborne Illness is giving those 3000 silenced voices an opportunity to be heard through a new event. The organization is hosting a 30-day walking event that promotes the work and mission of Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) called STOP3000.
How can YOU participate?
- Visit justgiving.com/campaign/stop3000-2021.
- Create a personalized fundraising page.
- Set a personal fundraising goal.
- Connect with your family and friends on social media and email.
- Request that they support your efforts by making a donation to STOP.
- Ask them to share your personal fundraising page on their social media platforms.
- Then take 3000 steps a day (1.3 mi), every day in September.
Thanks to a generous $100,000 challenge grant, when you participate in STOP3000, every donation is matched dollar for dollar. For more information email: info@stopfoodborneillness.org.
Posted 8/23/21
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This Wednesday
Discover "Food Safety Delivered" Resources You Need
September is National Food Safety Education Month!
Join AFDO and the Partnership for Food Safety Education for Food Safety Delivered: New Resources You Need for National Food Safety Education Month, on Wednesday, August 25, at 1 p.m. EDT.
The demand for food delivery has soared amid the pandemic and appears to have staying power. As families navigate this new environment, they need guidance on handling delivered food safely.
This webinar highlights brand-new resources and other shareable content focused on food safety in the delivery environment to help you reach your audiences with important, relevant information throughout National Food Safety Education Month and into the holiday season.
The session will include PFSE Executive Director Shelley Feist, Steven Mandernach of AFDO, and Allison Beadle, RD, of Wild Hive.
Register now to earn free CEUs from ANFP, CDR, NCHEC, and NEHA!
Posted 7/26/21
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FDA Retail Food Protection Seminar Registration is Now Open
Registration is now open for the 2021 FDA Retail Food Protection Seminar to be held September 13-16, 2021. Registration is free! This event is open to all interested in retail food safety, including all state, local, territorial and tribal regulators, standardized officers, industry and academia.
The September 13 and 14 sessions will be general sessions for all attendees. Highlights include:
- Keynote address on The New Era of Smarter Food Safety from Frank Yiannas, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response
- New funding opportunities for retail food regulatory programs
- Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaborative
- Challenge studies
- FDA deli risk factor study results
On September 15 attendees are invited to participate in one of five breakout sessions. These sessions will provide an opportunity to connect with colleagues from the Northeast, Central, Southeast, Pacific or Southwest. All the sessions at this seminar will be recorded and available for later viewing for one year by all registered attendees on the meeting website.
Four Retail Flexible Funding Model (RFFM) workshops are scheduled for September 16. The workshops are designed to help regulatory jurisdictions apply for FDA funding under the RFFM. The workshop schedule is:
- 1:00 PM EDT: How to Create a Comprehensive Strategic Improvement Plan (CSIP)
- 2:00 PM EDT: How to Create a Project Implementation Plan (PIP)
- 3:00 PM EDT: How to use NEHA’s grant portal to submit a grant application
- 4:00 PM EDT: Optional Resources to assist with navigating the RFFM
Registration is required even if you do not intend to attend the event live but wish to watch the recorded sessions at a later time. You will receive a registration confirmation email shortly after registering. An email reminder will be sent two weeks prior to the seminar with instructions on accessing the virtual meeting platform.
A special thanks to the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) for their assistance managing this event. AFDO will provide certificates of attendance for 16 contact hours(CEUs).
Posted 8/16/21
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Johnstone to Lead McDonald's Women Operators Network
AFDO member Tracy Johnstone has been elected Chair of the National McDonald's Women Operators Network. Johnstone will lead a group of leading women McDonald's owners/operators across the country as they support each other and grow their businesses. Johnstone leads her own Johnstone McDonald's.
Congratulations, Tracy.
Posted 8.23.21
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Root Cause Analysis for Retail Food Safety Courses Set
AFDO invites you to participate in the new virtual course, Performing Root Cause Analysis during Food Safety Risk Assessment. The course was developed in collaboration with ASQ (a globally recognized provider of several certification programs), CDC and retail food safety regulatory professionals. This course incorporates the concepts of root cause analysis for use in reducing the occurrence of risk factor violations and in the investigation of foodborne illness outbreaks. It is designed for the advanced food safety professional and will greatly enhance the skills needed to define the problem, collect data, determine the “why” and develop solutions.
Identifying the root cause (why) of risk factor violations and foodborne illness outbreaks utilizes contributing factors (what/how) and environmental antecedents providing the “why” of the violation or outbreak. This course will help develop a methodical approach to:
- Determine the underlying reasons for how and why an outbreak/violation(s) occurred
- Provide tools for more effective problem solving
- Data collection tools and analyzation
- Interventions or corrective actions to prevent recurrence
Sessions will be offered the weeks of September 20, October 4, and December 13.
Cost is $500 per person. AFDO is subsidizing approximately 40% of the registration costs per participant.
Posted 8/13/21
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AFDOSS Announces Annual Conference
Mark your calendar for the AFDOSS Annual Education Conference scheduled to be held as a virtual meeting. The event will take place on Monday and Tuesday, October 4th and 5th from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.
AFDOSS AEC registration details coming soon, check back on the AFDOSS website and follow them on Facebook for the latest updates!
Posted 8/23/21
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Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS) Now Live
The skills needed to investigate outbreaks of foodborne illness in restaurants are different from those needed to inspect restaurants. It is critical to have environmental health staff on outbreak investigation teams. The Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS) provides training on the role of environmental assessments in the broader context of outbreak investigations and the food safety system. The program is now available and you can learn more here.
What are the benefits of this training?
It’s free and available anytime: Take the courses at your own pace in this online learning program.
It’s practical:
- Learn how to identify an outbreak’s environmental causes.
- Learn how to recommend appropriate control measures.
- Practice conducting virtual environmental assessments.
You can earn continuing education units (CEUs) from CDC after completing the courses and final evaluation (optional). See specific courses for details.
Posted 8/23/21
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Food Safety Magazine
Regulatory/Industry Relationships: Engaging for a Common Goal
AFDO staff contributed the cover story of the August/ September issue of Food Safety Magazine. Authored by Brenda Morris and Steve Mandernach, the article addresses the care and feeding of regulatory and industry relationships. Industry officials in food safety who have been there commonly warn "you don’t want to be exchanging business cards with your regulators at the beginning of a food safety event." Whether an outbreak, recall, natural disaster, or other event, knowing regulators in advance of the event results in a much more effective relationship during challenging times. Read this cover story here.
8/16/21
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If You Missed It, Recording Available
Trends in the US Food Industry: Implications for National Security
The “Amazon Effect” refers to the rapid increase in e-commerce and online shopping and the way consumers shop and bring goods home over the past few decades. This has had a huge impact on traditional food retailers and the entire food supply chain, including food manufacturers, distributors, marketers and advertisers as well as food retailing and food service. To optimally cater to emerging consumer food demand trends, the food supply chain will increasingly rely on big data up and down the supply chain. This will increase the likelihood of intentional and unintentional data breaches and catastrophic data-related events unless efforts are put in place to minimize the exposure of the food supply chain and data security receives greater attention.
In this AFDO webinar, the implications of the Amazon Effect for the future of food security and national security were examined. The presenters predict further reorganization of the food supply chain, increased reliance on big data, greater demand for traceability and block-chain technologies for security and quality control, the emergence of new food deserts due to the equity problems with internet access, and greater exposure to supply chain disruptions perpetrated by non-state actors and savvy tech disrupters. To safeguard the food system, they argue for an improved scanner and data security architecture, an improved regulatory framework, and deeper thinking about how to address food safety & security concerns in a sustainable way.
Presenters
Soji Adelaja, Ph.D.
John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy
Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics
Michigan State University
Dave Weatherspoon, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost for Academic Strategic Planning
Professor of Agricultural, Food & Resource Economics
Michigan State University
Posted 8/23/21
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Ready, Set, Cook It Safe is BACK
Ready, Set, Cook it Safe! is back and even better on September 18 at 11:30am EDT. This year attendees will cook together live on Zoom with a guest appearance from our Young Cooks Recipe Challenge winner alongside other special guests. We will be making Cole's winning and very healthy recipe, Chicken, Fruit, & Nut Sandwiches.
This fundraising event is more than cooking together. The $25 event registration will go to keeping food safety and hand hygiene resources free of charge to access.
Posted on 7/26/21
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Application Portal Open Until Next Week
Additional Funding Opportunity for CY 2021 Available
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) have announced an additional funding opportunity for state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions for Calendar Year 2021. New and existing jurisdictions to this funding program are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity. Funds are available for inspection equipment purchases, using the equipment listed in Standard 8 as a guide. Jurisdictions may apply for up to $30,000 (and potentially more if funds are available and if the jurisdiction is able to supply adequate rationale for their request.)
Examples of Eligible Equipment: Head covers, thermocouples, flashlights, sanitation test kits, heat sensitive tapes, maximum registering thermometers, computers, cameras, black lights, light meters, pH meters, foodborne illness investigation kits, sample collection kits, data loggers
Eligibility Requirements: Applicants must be enrolled in the Retail Program Standards and have a current self assessment
How to Apply for Funding: The application portal will open today, August 2, 2021 to accept applications for this funding opportunity. The portal will close on August 31, 2021.
To stay informed of the latest developments for this funding program, to learn additional program details, or for instructions on how to enroll in the Retail Program Standards, visit the AFDO Retail Food Safety Grants website at: http://afdo.org/grants/retailstandards.
Posted 7/26/21
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Consumer Safety Officer - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The Direct-Hire positions are in the Food and Drug Administration and are located in the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) which is the lead office for all agency field activities. ORA inspects regulated products and manufacturers, conducts sample analyses of regulated products and reviews imported products offered for entry into the United States.
8/23/21
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Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) Job Openings
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is currently recruiting for three (3) permanent, full-time Food Industry Field Scientist 9-P11/Food Safety Inspector positions within the Food and Dairy Division. The Food Safety Inspector (Food Industry Field Scientist) is a field-based position that performs food safety regulatory inspections and related work within an assigned work area. This position requires the incumbent to live in Wayne, Oakland, or Macomb Counties or be willing to relocate within 10 months of hire and is open to all applicants. Interested applicants must apply through NEOGOV. Closing date is August 25, 2021 at 11:59 pm Eastern.
If you are interested in obtaining more information or applying, click on the link below
8/23/21
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Environmental Health Specialist Senior - Onsite Wastewater - Arizona
Do you consider yourself a technical program expert in on-site wastewater management and feel confident in your knowledge of septic system design, construction, and plan review? Come use your skills to safeguard the public's interest as an Environmental Specialist Senior! This role provides the technical review of complex plans for onsite wastewater treatment facilities. You will usually be the first to see newly proposed treatment technologies and will be exposed to wastewater management concepts pertaining to a variety of on-site wastewater treatment and disposal permits. Apply today!
8/23/21
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Environmental Health Specialist - Arizona
Hate sitting at a desk all day and care about your environment? Apply with us and enjoy a fast-paced career out of the office, ensuring Maricopa County residents a safe place to live, work, and play. As an Environmental Health Specialist, you will conduct compliance reviews and field inspections safeguarding public health sanitation codes. Here are some of the specialized areas you could be assigned: retail food establishments, aquatic health, safety, onsite wastewater, stormwater management, waste transport, and drinking water quality.
8/13/21
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Other Training Opportunities
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Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Virtual Training
Paster Training, Inc.
FSMA Compliance Courses - Virtual Instructor Led Training (vILT)
Information Page – https://www.pastertraining.com/pastertraining/food-beverage-training/upcoming-classes.aspx?id=1001
Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCQI) Blended Course Part 2 vILT (1 or 2-Day)
Registration Page - https://www.pastertraining.com/pastertraining/food-beverage-training/class-list.aspx?id=1018
- 27-Aug-2021 – 9:00am-6:00pm ET (1-Day)
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EAS Consulting Group Training
Designing an Effective and Compliant FSVP Program
September 13 & 15, 2021 at 11am - 5pm, ET
Food Safety – Of the Package, By the Package and For the Package
September 14, 2021 at 1pm ET
Dietary Supplement GMP Compliance Regulations
September 28 & 30 and October 5 & 7, 2021
Acidified Foods & Low-Acid Canned Foods (LACF)
Acidified Foods: Nov 1, 3, 8 & 10, 2021
LACF: November 15, 17 & 19, 2021
12pm - 4pm ET
Preventive Controls for Human Foods Seminar (PHCF) with Preventive Controls for Qualified Individuals (PCQI) Certification
December 2,7, 9, 14, 16, 2021 at 11am - 3pm ET
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The Food Safety Doctor LLC
Promoting Public Health and Food Safety through Training and FSMA Awareness
While sheltering in place, The Food Safety Doctor LLC is offering
FSMA Compliance Courses - Virtual Instructor Led Training (vILT)
Information Page
ONLINE Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCQI) Courses
Click here to access the schedule of PCQI courses
ONLINE Foreign Supplier Verification Courses (FSVP-QI) Courses
- August 24-25, 2021
- September 15-16, 2021
Click here to access the schedule of FSVP-QI courses
Intentional Adulteration Vulnerability Qualified Individuals (IAVA-QI) Courses
- Online: September 8, 2021
- Online: November 9, 2021 (Evening Session)
Click here to access the schedule of IAVA-QI courses
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Laws and Regulations Committee Updates
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Laws and Regulations Committee Update
A collection of current food, drug, device, and consumer product regulatory issues and news
August 13 - 17, 2021
August 18 - 20, 2021
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