Food Laws and Regulations Division

Newsletter - Vol. 6, No. 3 Fall 1996

Table of Contents

A message from the outgoing Chair--

My term as Chair of the Food Laws and Regulations (FLR) Division is reaching an end, and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve. It's a pleasure to be associated with dedicated, hard-working professionals, committed to the ever-growing area of food laws and regulations. The Division itself is large, growing, and financially strong--our activities seem limited only by the time available and the imagination of the members! The Division has made a lot of progress in defining new programs: a new student paper competition is currently being planned for next summer's annual meeting, a Division award will be implemented in 1996, and a new employment service is being announced in this newsletter. Work is also underway related to a student scholarship idea. Note that a survey is included with this newsletter; with your participation, it will help define additional areas where FLR might be of service to its members. Of course, all of this is incremental to the ongoing activities--education, newsletters, Internet support, symposium programs, welcoming activities, etc.

I would like to thank other members of the Executive Committee for their support during the last year: Jack Cooper (past Chair), Ted Labuza (Chair for '96/'97), Karen Carson (Secretary-Treasurer), the Executive Committee members, David Reische (student representative), and Jim Vetter, Tracy Altman, and Mark Harrison (newsletter). Elsewhere in this newsletter is a list of the committee chairs; I would also like to thank each of them for their hard work. We are in good hands with Ted Labuza taking over as Division Chair starting September 1; I wish him and his new Executive Committee well. Congratulations to Jim Heimbach, the Division's new Chair-elect, who will take the reins after Ted for '97/'98. What we need now is more volunteers -- please offer your time, ideas, and talents.

. . .Gary Henderson

From the incoming Chair--

This past year has been an interesting one for me; I learned that working in my profession is more rewarding than being an academic administrator. It was only through the kind help of the other IFT-FLR officers that I was able to complete my duties as Chair-elect--I want to thank all of them, especially Gary Henderson and Jack Cooper, for their help; I hope to do the same for others that follow me.

I believe that our main symposium at the IFT convention in New Orleans, "Architecting Legal Constraints in Food Plant Design," was a great success. The topic for the symposium seems especially relevant given the new HACCP rules and the USDA's current proposal to no longer require prior approval of plant design. We had speakers from the FDA, the State of Minnesota, and from two design firms; the session was co-chaired by me and Dr. Mary Schmidl of Humanetics Corporation. If you have new ideas for future symposia, let me know; although the deadline for scheduling sessions for next year is rapidly approaching, we can start planning for '98.

My focus this year will be on electronic communication. Besides chairing the FLR, I am also on the new IFT Information/Communications Systems subcommittee. These combined duties will let me see first-hand what our needs are, and how solutions can be implemented. IFT has set up a system to create a world wide web page for every Division, Section, and Committee. The initial cost will be about $1,500 and roughly $400 a year after that. Consequently, we need to know how many of you do not currently have access to the Internet. Please let our newsletter editors know about this--perhaps in a few years we can do away with this paper newsletter and do all our business on a web site (and save some trees as well). We need input on what you want on the FLR Division's web page(s), plus someone to be the point person in its design (you don't need html training). Please send ideas to me at tplabuza@epx.cis.umn.edu or by fax (612) 625-5272. In addition, I maintain a food law "Listserv" which now has almost 500 members. We have very good questions and many active participants; send me an email if you want to be added. Another site I maintain is the Food Law www page, which has links to the primary sources of free food law information--the address is http:/www.fscl.umn.edu/Foodlaw/. The Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) plans to add a page that will have text of food-related cases, especially at the District Court level (this information is not now available unless you have access to a pay service such as WestLaw).

Lastly, I want to thank the FDLI for sponsoring the Food Law workshop prior to the IFT national meeting. About 21 academicians were in attendance-- besides participating in a great session, we got to take home about 10 kilos of weighty material. Bob Noyes was responsible for setting this up, and we hope to do it again. In another symposium at the June meeting, we discussed how the Internet can be used to teach and supplement college courses. Basically, we reviewed three courses, currently taught by Bob Noyes (Cal Poly), Steve Pintauro (University of Vermont) and me (University of Minnesota). (Send me an email if you want a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.)

In any case, thanks for being members; let's solicit new members so we can keep growing in program strength. Let others know about our electronic communication systems, and by all means use them yourselves. And, of course, any ideas or comments are welcomed by any of our officers.

. . .Ted Labuza

Welcome to our new officers!

Congratulations to the following new officers, who began their terms officially on September 1st:

FLR Division supports short courses . . .

This Division is cooperating in the development, promotion, and implementation of the following short courses being scheduled by IFT:

Labeling of FDA-Regulated Foods - Chicago, November 11-13, 1996.

This course is presented by IFT in cooperation with FDA and the American Institute of Baking. It was first offered as an IFT program in May of this year, with 75 registrants and a substantial waiting list that could not be accommodated. The session was extremely well-received. The course is intended for anyone involved in producing, packaging, or promoting food products regulated by FDA; members of the FLR Division should have received a mailing on the November program. Early registration is encouraged, since enrollment will again be limited. For additional information, please contact Jim Vetter at (913) 537-4750.

Food Laws and Regulations - Atlanta (tentative), spring 1997.

This course will be presented by IFT in cooperation with the FLR Division and FDA. Brochures will be mailed late this year or early next year. Additional details will be provided in the next newsletter.

Jim Vetter will represent the Division in planning and implementing the two courses; we will promote the programs through our newsletter. In return, the Division receives $1,000 from the profits of each course, with no obligation toward any deficit that may result (we certainly don't expect a deficit!).

Welcoming activities--

The past six months have been particularly busy, as we have welcomed over 220 new members to the FLR Division. We also invited new and prospective new members to join us in the activities during the national convention in New Orleans, including our Division Board of Directors meeting and luncheon.

It was also exciting to get some feedback from members we have contacted this past year. One in particular came from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. The member was very appreciative of the information being supplied by IFT and the Food Laws and Regulations Division, and was looking forward to the meetings in New Orleans.

We want all members to feel welcome and a part of the Division . . . we also encourage you to be an active participant. Feel free to submit suggestions for improving the information provided and for enhancing the value of being a member.

. . . Ralph J. Glover

Chair, Welcoming Committee

'96/'97 budget approved . . .

The budget for this fiscal year was approved by the Executive Committee during the annual meeting in New Orleans. The budget calls for income of $9,200 and expenses of $13,800, resulting in a decrease in our reserves from $21,012 to $16,412. Additional sources of income are needed if the current level of expenses is to be maintained. Continued growth in membership and participation in short courses are expected to be the two primary sources of additional income.

Employment assistance planned--

The Executive Committee has approved an employment assistance program, to be directed by Mitzi Elkes, Chair of the Division's Employment Committee. Mitzi provided the following:

The latest addition to the FLR Division's many activities is the Employment Recruitment Committee. Positions available in the regulatory field will be posted on the Internet via either the Division's web page or through the Listserv (these were both discussed on pages 1-2). To place a "Position Available" ad, the interested employer will need to prepare an abstract up to six lines in length, with a job description and the recruiting company's name, address, and other pertinent contact information. The employment ad may then be e-mailed to the Recruitment Committee Coordinator. (The Coordinator's name and email address, and the posting location for the employment ads, will be announced at a later date.) Note that you must be a member of IFT and the Food Laws and Regulations Division to participate. For additional information, contact Mitzi at JEMS International, Inc. (phone 914/923-1762 or fax 914/944-0413).

Graduate student paper competition . . .

We will be sponsoring a graduate student paper competition; it is being put together by our student representative, Marc Broccoli, and Barbara Rasco, of the University of Washington. We've received authorization from IFT for the competition to be part of the 1997 program at the annual meeting Orlando. Papers for this competition can be submitted in any food science subdiscipline, but they must include a focus on international, federal, or state laws, regulations, or guidelines affecting food safety, processing, labeling, or other appropriate areas. Examples of possible topics include the following:

For additional information, contact Marc at the University of Georgia (fax: 706/542-1050) or Barbara at the University of Washington (phone: 206/543-4281; fax 206/543-1417).

Important member survey . . .

Enclosed with this newsletter is a membership survey. The Executive Committee wants your input. Our FLR Division is maturing rapidly, even though it was formed just a few years ago. We want to be sure we are serving members as best we can, so please take a few minutes to complete the survey, and return it by October 18. Results will be compiled and summarized in a future newsletter; most importantly, this will provide valuable guidance to the Executive Committee in determining what programs and services should be offered. Do it now! It'll only take a few minutes!

Internet support by IFT--

The Executive Committee, acting favorably on the following proposal, presented by Jack Cooper, a past chair of the FLR Division:

"The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) should encourage each of its sections and divisions to establish world wide web home pages and discussion groups (listservers) on the Internet to facilitate better communications with their members and others with an interest in their activities. To assist the sections and divisions as they accomplish these objectives, the Executive Committee of the IFT Food Laws and Regulations Division requests that the Institute provide the sections and divisions with staff support and training for development of their home pages and for staff support necessary for the establishment and routine maintenance of discussion group listservers. The web pages should be hosted on IFT's web site, and the listservers should be hosted at IFT expense on an IFT controlled server. This should be an IFT funded and budgeted activity, and the costs should not be charged back to the division or section."

Report on IFT Council Meeting . . .

I attended the IFT Council Meeting on Saturday, June 22nd in New Orleans and have the following to report:

Oral reports from the President, Treasurer, and Executive Director indicate that the organization is in good shape with respect to program, staffing, and financial requirements. IFT now has liquid assets equal to 70% of its annual operating budget; this is about double the goal which had been set for reserves.

Written reports from various Divisions, committees, and subcommittees were generally approved without comment.

Most of the time was spent discussing recommend-ations by the governance committee. This activity involves a potential change in the way in which IFT is governed. One of the major changes being considered is a reduction in the number of councilors representing sections. The sections now have one councilor for each 100 members; divisions have only one councilor each. This, as might be expected, was a major issue for discussion as sections and individuals saw the possibility of reduced representation on the Council. There was no plan to take any kind of vote on the governance committee report. Therefore, the committee took the input from the Council and will revisit their report and recommendations between now and the next Council meeting.

. . . Jim Vetter, FLR Division Councilor

Got a Symposium Idea?

From Jim Heimbach, Chair-elect of the Division:

"I invite anyone interested in organizing a symposium for the 1997 IFT annual meeting in Orlando on a subject suitable for sponsorship by the Food Laws and Regulations Division to contact me with their idea. Any symposium topic with a regulatory dimension is welcome, especially if the subject is of international interest. All proposed symposia must be submitted to the IFT Technical Program Review Committee by the end of September, so please contact me as soon as possible."

Note that the FLR Division is already scheduled to co-sponsor a session with the Nutrition Division; the topic will be food factors for ingredients declared in nutrition labeling. Jim can be reached at (202) 337-2625 or jimh@tasinc.com.

HACCP Rules for Meat and Poultry Processors Now Final

On July 25, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a final rule establishing significant new requirements for meat and poultry processors. Among other things, FSIS-regulated establishments now must develop systems to reduce the occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms in meat and poultry products--these are to be based on hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principles. Also required are standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sanitation.

Since it first proposed the new HACCP program in February of 1995, the agency held several public information meetings and reviewed numerous technical documents submitted by interested parties. Based on comments from industry and the public, several aspects of the original proposal were either removed or revised in the final rules. For example, FSIS had proposed specific requirements for antimicrobial treatments in slaughter establishments; such treatments are expected to play an important role in the design of HACCP plans at these facilities. However, rather than impose stringent criteria, the agency will allow these establishments to incorporate antimicrobial treatments in the manner they judge most effective within the scope of their HACCP planning. FSIS has also dropped the specific time-and-temperature requirements it had proposed for carcass cooling, noting that the HACCP approach to food safety inherently requires that facilities have flexibility to establish their own cooling procedures.

The new HACCP requirements, which are being codified in a new Part 417 of the FSIS regulations, take effect on January 26, 1998 for most establishments; smaller ones must comply by January 1999 or 2000, depending on their annual sales and number of employees. The new sanitation SOP rules and E. coli process control testing requirements are effective January 27, 1997. A new Part 416 has been added to the regulations to establish the sanitation SOP requirements.

. . . Tracy Altman

This page is maintained by the Food Law and Regulations Division of the Institute of Food Technologists. To submit materials for posting on the Division's home page or to make other comments, contact David Haytowitz

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Last updated: November 18, 1996