Food Laws and Regulations Division
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Food Laws and Regulations Division
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Newsletter - Vol. 9, No. 3 - Summer 1999 Table of Contents
Message from the Chair I once had a boss who said: "work smarter not harder,' as he dumped another pile of work on my already cluttered desk. He would also use this phrase when he was about to transfer one of my good employees [e.g. the one I had fought him to hire and had just spent six months training to another unit because the individual was so well qualified and well trained. Been there/done that, right? Needless to say, I don't work THERE anymore. At any rate, I think we all work too hard; unfortunately the longer I am in this business the more I believe we work too hard at the wrong things. A few weeks ago I had a haunting experience. I was in court waiting for a hearing to start. It's common practice to sit in the courtroom several minutes before your hearing is scheduled so the court clerk knows you are "there." A medical examiner was on the stand describing injures to the deceased. Typical fare for state trial court. He droned away in meticulous clinical detail, the way only medical examiners can. The victim was a homeless man, the defendant, a 14 year old boy. A tall, attractive young kid. He was sitting at a table in leg shackles, a table many of us had sat at before on more mundane matters.. The boy was on trial for first degree murder. He was being tried as an adult. One of the alleged murder weapons was a skateboard - beautifully hand-decorated with intricate ink designs in fantastic patterns and bright colors. The skateboard was sitting in the jury box, right where you wouldn't miss it as you entered the courtroom.. The entire weight of our criminal justice system was there for this simple evidentiary hearing - three heavy-hitting senior prosecutors and a small crowd of associates, a state appointed defense attorney, one of the best in the business. And all the rest of us - well-heeled attorneys with their well-heeled clients, media waiting in the wings, interested parties of all sorts buzzing around like mosquitoes. All of "us" were now concerned about the fate of this kid - where were any of us last year or even last month?
Maybe the course of events would not have been any different regardless of what any of us may have done. Maybe this victim and this defendant are both total losers who deserved what they got. I don't think so. I refuse to believe individuals can't make a difference. The only remaining issue is whether you choose to make a "good difference" or a "bad difference". "Indifference" is a "bad difference". I know this murder trial has no direct ties to food laws and regulations - at least not on the surface. But members of our division, more so than others in IFT have the tools to make "good differences" in law and policy - we are making good differences already in food laws and regulations as part of our professional lives. Some of us have formal legal, administrative law, and policy training. Those who don't, clearly have a commitment to law and policy and a good sense of what is involved forming, making and implementing same. So let's take what we know and see how we can each make a good difference in the larger community. I am challenging you to look beyond our specific discipline and determine how you can make a good difference. It might be within the court system or it might be outside of it. It may involve time or money or both. Whatever you do, you might spend less psychological time and possibly less physical time at "work." But, hey, what's the problem with that? Annual Meeting Notes The Division luncheon will be held on Monday, July 26th. Order your tickets when you register. The speaker thus year will be Dr. Morris E. Potter. Dr. Potter was recently named to head the food safety initiatives at FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. He has worked for 25 years in epidemiology and public health policy and most recently served as the Assistant Director for foodborne diseases at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In that position, he was one of the leaders of CDCP's foodborne disease prevention efforts and served as CDCP's liaison on the Federal Food Safety Initiative. Dr. Potter was also Director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Foodborne Disease Surveillance, which investigates, evaluates, and creates prevention strategies for foodborne disease epidemics throughout the world. Dr. Potter will be addressing the food safety initiative and perspectives on current food safety problems. This is a "must attend" program for all members of the Food Laws & Regulations Division. The Division will hold a graduate student paper competition during the annual meeting. Papers will be presented in Session 9 on Sunday morning. We need several volunteers to attend the session and judge the papers. If you can help, please call Division Chair, Barbara Rasco, at 509/335-1858 (rasco@wsu.edu). The students will be introduced and the winner announced at the Division's luncheon on Monday. The Executive Committee will meet for a breakfast meeting in the Hilton Hotel on Monday morning at 7:00 AM A full agenda of symposia and technical sessions are scheduled. Plan to attend as many as possible.
Sunday afternoon -
Monday morning -
Monday afternoon -
Tuesday morning -
Tuesday afternoon -
Training and continuing education... The Division supports - and receives income from - two continuing education programs offered by IFT. The next IFT/FDA/USDA food laws and regulations short course will be held in Minneapolis on September 13-14. The next IFT/FDA/AIB food labeling short course will be held in Atlanta on September 27-28. Brochures with details and registration form are "in the mail." Sign up early - the food labeling course has limited enrollment and has always been a sellout with lengthy waiting list. Plans are being made to offer both programs twice in the year 2000. Election Results The votes are in and have been counted. Ninety-Four ballots were received and the winners are: Member-at-Large
Chair-Elect:
Congratulations to the winners. Thanks to all of the members that voted. Course Announcement The International Food Law Center of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University is offering an Internet based course in International Food Law and Regulation (FSC-491) starting in September and lasting 8 weeks. FSC-491 will be taught over the Intemet using state of the art distance education technologies such as streaming video and audio, hyper links to importance Internet resources, listserv, automated grading and live chats with instructor. The course will be offered through the Lifelong Education Program at Michigan State University For more information, please contact: Dr. Thomas P. Wilson
Often I am asked the difference between IFT and the IFT Foundation. The Foundation is part of IFT, and as such has a similar, but different mission. The mission for the Foundation:
The mission of IFT:
The Foundation raises endowed funds, that is to say, only the yield on the funds is spent--thus, endowed funds are forever. The Foundation invests in IFT programs, which are designated by the donor (restricted funds), or chosen by the IFT organization, its sections, divisions or committees, etc. Until recently, the Foundation was funded by corporations. We have received a few significant donations from members. The Foundation's goal is raise $12 million by the year 2002 with special emphasis on member participation. You will be hearing more than ever about the IFT Foundation... Look us up at the Annual Meeting. If you have questions, they are welcome. If you have ideas, push them! Remember this is YOUR foundation. Sincerely, P.S. Remember every donor counts--so contribute to your institute's endowment fund by contributing to the IFT Foundation.
The date for IFT's Annual Meeting in Chicago is quickly approaching. The Division has an interesting and exciting program planned. The symposia and technical sessions promise to be thought provoking and challenging. I believe that all of us will find an area of interest in the topics presented during these sessions. 1999 marks the Division's most ambitious program, with several unique and timely topics. In addition the Division is sponsoring their first graduate student competition. The annual luncheon and business meeting promises to be one of the highlights of the convention. In addition to the opportunity to network with your fellow regulatory professionals, the technical program promises to be very interesting and informative. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Morris E. Potter. Dr. Potter, CFSAN's new head of the food safety initiative, will speak on stratergies for preventing food Safety problems. Tickets are available when registering, or at the convention center. Chicago is exicting city and promises to be an excellent host for the Annual Meeting. The wide variety of technical sessions and the extensive food expo make it a professional "must attend" for anyone in the food industry. Please submit articles or information for the next newsletter by August 31, 1999 Send information to the Editors at the addresses below. Please send comments, suggestions concerns and corrections to us, we want to hear from you.
Newsletter Deadline - August 31, 1999 Last modified: February 26, 2000 |
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