Keeping our Imported Food Safe in the US: CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION OPENS IMPORT FOOD SAFETY CENTER

A recent press release from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) details the opening of a new testing center by the Department of Homeland Security, the Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC), which is committed to ensuring the safety of foods imported to the United States. This center operates under the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and was created by the recommendation of President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group.

The CTAC is located in Washington, D.C. and is one of CBP’s six commercial centers in the United States specifically targeting imported cargo, including food, for potential safety violations. Other government agencies such as the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Food & Drug Administration and Consumer Product Safety Commission will also offer on-site expertise at the center.


To read more, visit the USDA website

Senator Feinstein on Processed Food Safety Act

The Food Poison Journal reports that on December 1st Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to require that food producers take responsibility for keeping food free from harmful pathogens. The bill aims to amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to prevent the sale of any food that is not certified to be pathogen free.

The Processed Food Safety Act requires everyone in the food chain to take responsibility for keeping food free of harmful pathogens. Here are the details of the bill:

• Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Meat Inspection Act and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prohibit the sale of any processed poultry, meat and FDA-regulated food that has not either undergone a pathogen reduction treatment, or been certified to contain no verifiable traces of pathogens.
• Requires that labels on ground beef, or any other ground meat product, specifically name every cut of meat that is contained in the product, and;
• Does away with loopholes in current laws that allow for producers to add coloring, synthetic flavorings and spices to their products without informing the consumer.

Senator Feinstein maintains that serious reform is needed and lists the number of recalls just in the past month. To read the full article visit:

http://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/2009/12/articles/food-policy-regulation/senator-feinstein-on-processed-food-safety-act/

Thanksgiving Food Safety Tips

Thanksgiving is here once again and with it comes my favorite, the traditional turkey dinner. This year to keep us all safe from foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, here are some tips to avoid the improper storing, cooking, and serving of roast turkey and other Thanksgiving delights...

There are 3 ways to defrost a frozen turkey safely :

• Defrost turkey in the refrigerator (40°F) approximately 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of turkey
• Submerge turkey in its original package in a pan of cold water enough to cover the turkey. Change the water every 30 minutes, and allow 30 minutes thawing for every pound. Cook the turkey immediately.
• Remove any packaging and keep turkey in a microwave-safe pan to catch any juices. Thaw in the microwave oven. Cook the turkey immediately.

Preparation Tips:
• Do not thaw on the kitchen counter.
• Cook fresh turkeys within two days, thawed ones within four days.
• Wash your hands with hot, soapy water before and after handling raw poultry. Wash all knives, cutting boards and utensils also after using for raw poultry.

Cooking Tips:
• Read and follow the cooking directions on the label. Cook turkey until it is done (165°F). Check to make sure every part of the turkey reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165°F, even if your turkey has a pop-up temperature indicator. Check the innermost part of the thigh and wing, and the thickest part of the breast.
• Let turkey stand for 20 minutes before carving to allow juices to set.

Other Tips:
• Stuffing should not be prepared a day ahead and the turkey should not be stuffed until ready to cook. An alternate (and safer) method is to cook the stuffing separately in a casserole, using some of the pan juices to flavor and moisten the stuffing.
• Store left-over food within two hours after serving, including pumpkin pie.
• Store in the refrigerator if eating left-over food within 3 days. Label and date.
• Keep in the freezer for longer storage time. Label and date.

Distributor Training Nov 4-5, Salt Lake City

Thanks to our distributors Anatech, iMeth, JMC, and JKI who came out to our distributor training November 4-5. We had a great time getting to know all of you!

29th University of Wisconsin – River Falls Symposium

Current Concepts In Foodborne Pathogens and Rapid and Automated Methods in Food Microbiology, October 18-21, 2009

Idaho Technology was proud to participate in this year’s University of Wisconsin River Falls Symposium where speakers from academia, industry and regulatory agencies provided an overview and update on the pathogens, toxins, and contaminants that occur in food, water, and the environment.

The emphasis of the workshop was on the practical applications to solve food microbiological safety and quality problems. In addition, technical representatives from selected companies, such as Idaho Technology, involved in developing and marketing instruments and assays for microbiological analysis of food participated in the program by presenting and demonstrating the latest technologies in food safety.

Topics ranged from approaches to food allergens to consumer attitudes toward food, nutrition, and health and of course food safety trends and risk management. Our own Adam Greer attended and presented on our R.A.P.I.D. ® LT Food Security System and its sensitivity, accuracy and high speed. To learn more about the R.A.P.I.D. LT FSS visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/index.html.

Food Safety Tip of the Week: Always wash fresh fruits and vegetables under cool running tap water before eating. This removes any lingering dirt while also removing or reducing any bacteria or other substances.

E. coli Happenings

Following a recent story in The New York Times titled “E. coli path shows flaws in beef inspection” there has been a flurry of statements and proposals by various agencies to help the public understand what is being done to ensure the safety of ground beef. This has ranged from the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to the president of the American Meat Institute commenting on what both government and private industry are doing to take action. Additionally, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is planning to introduce the “E.coli eradication act” which is legislation requiring all ground beef facilities to test product regularly both before and after it is ground. To read more about these latest happenings visit http://tinyurl.com/yh3547j and to read the article that started all the recent activity click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Idaho Technology, Inc. is also committed to helping eradicate foodborne pathogens and recently released our AOAC approved E. coli O157:H7 kit which uses real-time PCR technology to rapidly identify the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef and uncooked spinach in less than an hour after only 8 hours of enrichment. To read more about our food security system please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

Food Safety Tip: Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within 2 days; other beef, veal, lamb or pork, within 3 to 5 days.

Idaho Technology Inc. Receives AOAC-RI Validation For E.coli O157:H7 Test

On October 6, 2009 ITI was proud to announced that we have been granted Performance Tested Methods Status by the AOAC Research Institute (Certificate No. 100901) for our E.coli O157:H7 test used with the R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System (FSS). The assay uses real-time PCR technology to identify the presence of E.coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef and uncooked spinach food samples.

The system marks a milestone in real-time PCR testing of foodborne pathogens as this platform enables detection of E.coli O157:H7 in less than one hour after only 8 hours of enrichment. The validation studies on ground beef and spinach prove that the R.A.P.I.D. LT FSS performed as well or better than traditional culture methods with faster time to result. The complete system provides the easiest end-to-end protocol for PCR-based detection methods, and the E.coli O157:H7 test joins the Idaho Technology Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. assays as AOAC-RI approved.

The validation of this rapid screening tool for E.coli is an important development for all food manufacturers since E.coli O157:H7 is a major health problem and is estimated to cause infection in more than 70,000 patients a year in the United States alone. The use of an E.coli O157:H7 screening tool that is both rapid and accurate will permit earlier release of products without fear of potential outbreaks or possible food recalls. The assay is intended for use by trained laboratory personnel.

To read more visit our website at: http://www.idahotech.com/ContactUs/Media.html

Food Safety Tip: Check the temperature of your unit with an appliance thermometer. To slow bacterial growth, the refrigerator should be at 40° F; the freezer, 0° F.

New Food Safety Website

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), most people are clueless about proper safety and storage techniques that can prevent the spread of food borne illnesses—despite the fact that food borne illnesses sicken roughly 76 million people, cause 725,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the US every year.

Now there is a new website that answers all of consumer’s food safety questions. The website includes information such as food storage times, minimum cooking temperatures, and fresh produce safety along with the latest recalls and alerts reported. Consumers can also learn more about food borne pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli, food safety regulations and how the government responds to pathogen outbreaks. Visit http://foodsafety.gov/ to check out the latest in food safety education.

Food Safety Tip: Store perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below.

Winner of our Online Survey Announced!

We would like to congratulate Keith Schneider from the University of Florida on winning our drawing from our online survey. Keith has won a 16 GB Touch iPod! We hope Keith enjoys it, and we'd like to thank everyone who entered, we appreciate your time in taking the survey and getting your feedback and insights.

The survey was designed to help us better serve the market as we continue to develop our Food Security product line, which consists of our R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System and our assays for detecting foodborne pathogens including Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, L. mono and more.

For more information on our food security products please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

Keeping Up on Food Safety Regulations

With outbreaks from food-borne illnesses killing an estimated 5,000 Americans each year and sending hundreds of thousands to the hospital, the Obama Administration has made food safety a priority and earlier this year established a new food safety working group. With the increased focus on food safety, here are a few of the new measures in place:

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will help the food industry create better tracking methods to locate the source of a food-borne illness.
• A network will be created to improve communication among all the federal agencies that regulate food safety.
• To find E. coli contamination, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety Inspection Service will increase sampling of ground beef ingredients.
• The FDA has announced a new regulation to help make eggs safer for consumers to eat. The regulation is designed to cut down the number of illnesses caused by eggs contaminated with the bacterium salmonella.

The key now is that eggs will have to be refrigerated from farm to market.

The FDA said salmonella is a major cause of foodborne illness in the United States, and raw or undercooked eggs are a major source of such infections. An estimated 142,000 illnesses each year in the United States are caused by consuming eggs contaminated with salmonella.

To read more visit: http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/07/07/us-unveils-stricter-food-safety-standards.html

To learn about Idaho Technology's easy, accurate and timely food pathogen identification system which tests for pathogens such as Salmonella, E.coli O157:H7, Listeria and more please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

NAMP e.Coli Conference

Idaho Technology recently attended and sponsored the National Association of Meat Processors (NAMP) conference August 18-19, 2009 titled “Prevention of E. coli O157:H7 for Further Processors”. It was hosted with the support of the Beef Industry Food Safety Council in collaboration with the USDA FSIS Office of Outreach, Employee Education and Training. The conference featured companies and associations from around the US and Mexico including the American Meat Institute, Consejo Mexicano de la Carne, US Meat Export Federation, Chicago Midwest Meat Association, Southwest Meat Association, American Association of Meat Processors, International HACCP Alliance and others.

Presenters shared their thoughts and research on topics such as the challenges for further processors in North America, types of E. coli testing, intervention technologies, USDA FSIS policies, CFIA regulations, identifying risk exposure, and preparing for a recall. Idaho Technology showcased our R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System with our new E. coli O157:H7 test which detects the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef and spinach in less than an hour after an enrichment of 8 hours.

To read more about NAMP please visit: http://www.namp.com/namp/Default.asp
To learn more about the R.A.P.I.D. LT Food Security System please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/RAPIDLT/RAPIDLT-FSS.html

Food Safety Tip of the Week: Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator.

Updated Software Release Improves Accuracy and Sensitivity of Food Security System

Yesterday we were pleased to announce the release of our new software:

Building on its reputation for speed and accuracy in the food testing marketplace, Idaho Technology, Inc. released software V3.0 for its R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System.The updated software incorporates a proprietary post-PCR melting procedure designed to increase the sensitivity of the R.A.P.I.D. LT Food Security System by using melting temperature and melting curves along with PCR amplification curves to determine the presence or absence of pathogens in a food or environmental sample. This additional feature provides users with increased confidence in the sample result.

This is the first food testing solution that provides both PCR and a melt curve analysis together with fast and reliable automated detection. Results are reported as a simple and clear “Positive” or “Negative.” Additionally, easy-to-use wizard-based protocols give users the ability to run custom assays on the system as well as the ability to run Idaho Technology bio-threat assays and food security assays on the same instrument and software simply by installing the appropriate wizards.

To read the full press release, please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/ContactUs/Media.html

Beef Recall for Salmonella Announced Today

Beef Packers, Inc., a Fresno, California, establishment, is recalling approximately 825,769 pounds of ground beef products that may be linked to an outbreak of salmonellosis, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The ground beef products were produced on various dates ranging from 5 Jun 2009 through 23 Jun 2009 and bear the establishment number "EST. 31913" printed on the case code labels. The ground beef products were distributed to retail distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah. Because these products were repackaged into consumer-size packages and sold under different retail brand names, consumers should check with their local retailer to determine whether they may have purchased any of the products subject to recall.

Please use the following precautions when handling meat:

Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Also wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot soapy water. Clean up spills right away.

Keep raw meat, fish, and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry, and egg products and cooked foods.

Cook raw meat and poultry to safe internal temperatures before eating. The safe internal temperature for meat such as beef and pork is 160 deg F [71 deg C], and 165 deg F [74 deg C] for poultry, as determined with a food thermometer.

Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within 2 hours after purchase (1 hour if temperatures exceed 90 deg F [32 deg C]). Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within 2 hours after cooking.

Please visit http://tinyurl.com/nc6unf for the full story on this recall.

IAFP iPod Touch Winner!

Congratulations to Joanne Ruebl of Cherney Microbiological who was our winner of an 16 GB iPod Touch from our survey giveaway at IAFP! We hope you enjoy your iPod.

You still have a chance to win!! We are giving away one more 16 GB iPod Touch for entering our online survey. Enter here to win!

Survey ends September 1, 2009. We will be drawing our final winner and announcing the first week of September.

IAFP Annual Meeting Recap

This week I had the opportunity to travel to lovely Grapevine, Texas (where it was a sizzling 106 degrees!) to attend my first IAFP annual meeting. The show was held at the beautiful Gaylord Texan Resort, and with an immense atrium including four and a half acres of indoor gardens and winding waterways it was a refreshing refuge from the heat.

We were able to showcase our R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System and our EAT (Easy Accurate Timely) campaign and I was able to learn first-hand what a great forum for education and learning about protecting our food supply this annual meeting provides.

This was the 96th IAFP annual meeting and I was in the midst of over 1,800 attendees from the top industry, academic and government food safety professionals. The meeting also featured over 500 technical papers, posters and symposia, detailing current information on a variety of topics relating to food safety. Idaho Technology was proud to submit two posters: “Sensitivity and Specificity Testing of the new Escherichia coli O157:H7 PCR-based Detection Assay using Idaho Technology’s R.A.P.I.D. ® LT Food Security System” by Kelly Winterberg and “Evaluation of Idaho Technology’s R.A.P.I.D. ® LT Listeria Food Security System in Select Foods and on Environmental Surfaces” by Traci Hayes.

All in all, it was a great meeting and I’m looking forward to attending next year in Anaheim, California (I’m thinking Disneyland….)!

Food Safety Tip of the Week: Cut or cooked produce items such as baked potatoes or vegetable casseroles, should never be left out or held at room temperature for an extended time period.

More Responsibility Needed by Consumers and Companies

There is a great article on the FoodHACCP.com website written by Matt McKinney (Minneapolis Star Tribune) who interviews Bill Marler, a lawyer who specializes in food safety cases. Mr. Marler has a unique view into the state of our food safety laws and regulatory agencies. He offers his thoughts and advice on recent pathogen outbreaks and what we can do to improve food safety. Highlights from the interview include:

* More funding needed for food safety
* Combined FDA and FSIS would be more effective
* Food isn’t necessarily safer now than it was 20 years ago

To read the full article, please visit: http://www.foodhaccp.com/1news/070209b.html

Food Safety Tip of the Week: Always wash fresh fruits and vegetables under cool running tap water before eating. This removes any lingering dirt while also removing or reducing any bacteria or other substances.

It's Grilling Time!

Get those grills out! It’s time to celebrate Independence Day with a good old American-style backyard barbeque! Before you fire up the grill and even before you rush out to buy all the supplies, remember a few food safety precautions…

Always Cook Meat Thoroughly
Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. Use a food thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature. Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts and chops can be cooked to 145°F. Hamburgers made of ground beef should reach 160 °F. All cuts of pork should reach 160°F. All poultry should reach a minimum of 165°F. NEVER partially grill meat or poultry and finish cooking later.

To read the full story on keeping your BBQ safe, please visit:
http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6559817

Happy 4th of July from all of us here at Idaho Technology, Inc.!

Food Safety Tip: Whether you are planning a backyard barbeque or going on a 4th of July picnic, remember to refrigerate your leftovers within two hours.

29TH ANNUAL K-STATE RAPID METHODS AND AUTOMATION IN MICROBIOLOGY WORKSHOP JUNE 15-22

Kansas State University's 29th annual Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology workshop (http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/rapidmethods/index.shtml) was held June 15-22 in Manhattan, Kansas. The workshop is under the direction of K-State's Daniel Y.C. Fung, an internationally known authority in the field and professor of animal sciences and industry and food science, and offered through the K-State department of animal sciences and industry.

The workshop has served more than 4,000 participants from across the United States and 60 countries in the last 26 years. It focuses on the practical application of conventional and new commercial systems of rapid identification of microorganisms from medical specimens, foods water, and the environment. Participants received intensive theoretical and hands-on training in microbiological automation.

A big thanks goes to our U.S. distributor, Microbiology International, who was one of the sponsors for the event and invited us to attend and present on our R.A.P.I.D. ® LT Food Security System. From Microbiology International, Jason Cadle also presented on “The Total PCR Solution” To learn more about Microbiology International, please visit www.800ezmicro.com. To learn more about the Idaho Technology Food Security System, please visit us at: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/.

Campden UK Meeting

Along with our U.K. distributor Microgen Bioproducts, we recently attended the Campden BRI meeting “Rapid and alternative microbiology methods” on June 4, 2009. This was a one-day seminar designed to combine presentations from key experts in the area of rapid microbiological testing, and attendees included microbiologists and technologists from all levels of the food and beverage industry.The program included presentations on filter-based media culturing solutions, cell-based oxygen sensing systems, lateral flow devices, and PCR instruments. Idaho Technology was happy to participate with our "real-time PCR detection of E. coli O157:H7 from enriched food samples" presentation given by Kelly Winterberg, Ph.D.A special thanks to Stuart Clark, Ph.D. at Microgen Bioproducts for sponsoring the event and showing us great hospitality!

Stuart Clark Ph.D., Microgen Bioproducts showing the R.A.P.I.D. ® LT Food Security System from Idaho Technology.

IFT Food Expo 2009

Tens of thousands of food professionals from around the globe make their way each year to the IFT Food Expo to see the latest products, technologies, tools, techniques, and services at one of the most highly regarded new product forums in the industry. The Expo was held June 6-9 in Anaheim, California and with safety and quality on the minds of today's consumers, the Expo featured a Food Safety & Quality Pavilion that put the spotlight on instrumentation, services, processing, and packaging technologies to find the latest answers to the critical global food industry issues.


This year Idaho Technology participated with our U.S. Distributor, Microbiology International (http://www.800ezmicro.com/) to showcase our R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System. The goal of our system is to Make Food Safe and we do that by bringing food producers and distributors a PCR solution that is Easy, Accurate and Timely. To learn more about the RAPID LT visit us at http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/.

Nanoscience and Food Safety?

"Nanoscience to boost food safety, quality and shelf life" according to an article by Mike Stones in http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/.

Basically the technology could be used to provide anti-microbial coatings for food contact surfaces or packaging. Other applications include using nanoscience to engineer sensors to detect pathogens and toxins in food or to register environmental changes. For example, nanochips in smart inks used for food packaging could register warnings if the temperature of the package rose above certain programmed limits.

But unlocking nanoscience's vast potential depends on overcoming five significant challenges, including safety in the workplace, distinguishing between natural nanparticles and those introduced by human intervention, economics, an uncertain regulatory future and food safety.

Read the full article here: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Nanoscience-to-boost-food-safety-quality-and-shelf-life?nocount

The Cost of Food Safety

Did you know that the U.S. economy loses $44 billion each year because of foodborne illnesses? While food safety isn't free and ultimately makes our food prices higher, what's the cost of not keeping our food supply safe? Of course the biggest costs can't be measured only in dollars, it's also the suffering and deaths that stem from foodborne illnesses.

With a new FDA chief, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, and increased focus on food safety, it looks like regulations are getting stricter and there will be additional fees. Just yesterday, it was announced that pending legislation includes requirements that all food manufacturers write and carry out safety plans, pay an annual registration fee of $1,000 to the F.D.A. and keep track of the distribution of all food products. The F.D.A. would be required to inspect every food facility in the country at least once every four years, with high-risk ones being inspected every 18 months. Supporters of the bill state that the fees are necessary to save the food industry from expensive recalls. However, even with the increased fees, Dr. Hamburg claims this will not be enough to implement the goals of the legislation.

On the other side of the fence, Pamela G. Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, told the committee that the industry was concerned about the size of the proposed fees and their possible effect on the credibility of the F.D.A. “Our industry is ultimately responsible for the safety of its products,” Ms. Bailey said in a written statement, “but securing the safety of the food supply is a government function which should be largely financed with government resources.”

It will be interesting to see how this battle plays out and what legislation will actually be passed and implemented affecting not only food manufacturers, but affecting all consumers. For more information on the pending legislation, please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/health/policy/04fda.html?ref=global-home

For more information on how Idaho Technology can help food manufacturers ensure the safety of their products, please visit us at: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

Welcome Kristine Clemens!

We would like to announce the addition of a new scientist to our Food Safety group and extend her a warm welcome. Kristine Clemens joined our team this month--coming from Silliker Food Labs where she was a laboratory manager for the past 8 years. In addition to Silliker, Kristine also worked for the Food Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin where she performed food challenge studies with organisms including Clostridium botulinum, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Staphylococcus.

Kristine has a B.S. Bacteriology from University of Wisconsin – Madison and a M.S. Food Science from Kansas State University. She joins our Food Safety product line where she is charged with writing AOAC protocols and reports as well as food assay development. We are excited to have Kristine on board and look forward to all that she brings to our food safety products!

Food Safety Happenings at the White House

What do you think of President Obama’s recent appointment of Dr. Peggy Hamburg as the new head of the FDA? Watch President Obama’s address on this and his perspective on the problems with the safety of our food supply.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/14/Food-Safety/

Here are the key points President Obama made:

• Average number of outbreaks from contaminated produce are up to 350 per year from 100 a year in the early 1900s


• Laws and regulations governing food safety have not been updated since they were written in the time of Teddy Roosevelt


• The FDA is significantly under-funded and under-staffed, with currently only 7,000 out of 150,000 plants and warehouses being inspected each year (roughly 5%)


• President Obama is proposing a $1 billion investment in food safety and the updating of laws and regulations, along with Dr. Hamburg to drive more cooperation between regulatory agencies

FDA WORKSHOP MAY 6-8, 2009
JAMAICA, NEW YORK

Idaho Technology recently participated in the Detecting Foodborne Pathogens FDA workshop. Scientists from around the world attended the event which was sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, AOAC International, York College of the City University of New York, and the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. The workshop consisted of a series of lectures in the mornings dealing with everything from PCR basics to FDA regulatory issues, and hands-on laboratory sessions in the afternoons. The laboratory sessions allowed participants to try out different high throughput methods for detecting pathogens in food, including our own R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System. Thanks go out to the FDA North East Regional laboratory for hosting the event!

Win an iPod Touch!!

As Idaho Technology continues to develop our Food Safety program, our goal is to make the best system possible for food borne pathogen testing. To do this we need know what you are testing for, your protocols, and desires for future testing systems and kits. We would love to take each of you out to lunch and talk about your food testing programs, but that's an impossible endeavor.

So we have created a simple survey to hep us gather the information we need. In exchange for your generous information, you will have the opportunity to win a 16 gig iPod Touch. The survey is short, 10 questions and all questions must be answered to be qualified* for the iPod.

Take the Food Safety Survey here

We have one winner already from a survey that we offered at the recent tradeshows that we attended, United Fresh and Food Safety Summit. Everyone who filled out the survey was entered to win an iPod Touch. And the winner is.....

Congratulations to Stacy Draper, Corporate QA Manager at Sun Rich Fresh Foods who won our drawing!! We hope you enjoy your iPod.

Here is a image of the survey that was available at our booth during the tradeshows. Kudo's to our creative department for coming up with such a great idea for the survey.

*The survey will be available until September 1, 2009 and the winning entrant will be notified after September 1. All Idaho Technology employees and families are excluded from this drawing.

More Fallout from Peanut Corporation of America

Stricter Regulations coming your way in Georgia…

Sonny Perdue signed a bill into law last Friday (5/2/2009) that makes the state the first to adopt stiff new food safety requirements.

The new food safety regulations would require hundreds of food processors to alert state inspectors if internal tests show their products are tainted within 24 hours. It also gives Georgia agriculture officials the power to order the manufacturer to conduct more tests.

http://rwjf.org/publichealth/digest.jsp?id=10555

Personally, I'm just glad it's safe to eat peanut butter again!! It's great that we have solutions like the R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System to keep our food safe:

http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

THE Summit

A friend of mine recently suggested that we should start working on an iPhone application, one that would allow your phone to measure Salmonella in foods before you eat. Wouldn’t that be great?!!

While we're not there yet, I was definitely in awe at all of the food safety solutions available at the Food Safety Summit this week, held in Washington, DC. The United States capital is home to many US regulatory agencies, and the Food Safety Summit focused on protecting our food supply through preparation, response and resolution. With industry leading scientists and solutions, this show dived into real world applications that affect us all. Idaho Technology was honored to take part in displaying our part of the solution—the R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System—which detects food borne pathogens in less than an hour. We also continued our EAT theme showcasing our product as Easy, Accurate, and Timely.

I’d like to give a special thanks to our lead scientist for Food Security, Kelly Winterberg Ph.D., who presented on our rapid solution for detecting E. coli O157:H7.

Now that I’m home from my tradeshow tour, I’ll start tackling other hot industry topics next week. Happy Friday!!

Keeping It Fresh...

The lights, the glitz, the glamour….. the produce??!! Last week we attended the United Fresh show held in sunny, vibrant Las Vegas... The casinos and chaos on the outside didn't detour the waves of people on the inside of the show where an appetizing labyrinth of food samples awaited—from pineapple to guacamole, this show had our hunger covered! Most importantly, with the heightened awareness of global food safety issues, the show focused on industry audits, product traceability, rapid methods to test for food borne pathogens, and other issues that face growers, shippers, and food producers. Idaho Technology had a booth in the food safety pavilion and we were happy to showcase our food security system, the R.A.P.I.D.® LT FSS, which tests for pathogens such as Listeria, E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella.

A special thanks to Julie and Stuart from Microbiology International for helping us at the booth and showing us a good time!

Now I'm off to Washington, DC for the Food Safety Summit. Check back next week for a full report...

Welcome to Food Bites

Welcome to the Idaho Technology, Inc. (ITI) Food Safety Blog! I’m excited to begin blogging through the hectic pace of keeping our food supply safe. My goal is to bring you ITI news “bites” and updates on the latest happenings in the food safety world—and hopefully keep it fun and interesting too! I am new to the food safety community, so please join me on my journey as I navigate my first Food Safety tradeshows— United Fresh and Food Safety Summit (watch for my posts in the next weeks!), the launch of a new promotional campaign, and plotting a course through a growing mountain of food scares.

I welcome your comments and insights and hope this can be a forum for sharing insights and valuable information that affects us all.

That’s all for now, I look forward to kicking things off with United Fresh next week where I’m off to Vegas showcase our new theme! Here’s a sneak peek…