European E. Coli Outbreak Puts Spotlight on US Government Preparedness

David Acheson, Managing Director of Food and Import Safety at Leavitt Partners, pointed out in a recent CNBC interview, "You can't say it won't happen here. You have to assume it will happen. We need to ramp up our prevention controls." 

The National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT), a member of the Food and Agriculture Protection Training Consortium (FAPTC), is offering DHS-certified and sponsored training at no direct cost to state and local food emergency responders. "A Coordinated Response to Food Emergencies: Practice and Execution" is designed to have an impact on limiting the devastation caused by contamination of the food supply.The course provides responders with training on food emergency response procedures with an emphasis on coordination between local, state and federal food and health officials. In the United Sates, communication among this patchwork of government agencies can lead to slow detection of illness and slow response in containing an outbreak.

"The deadly E. coli outbreak in Europe should not be a surprise. This type of outbreak could happen anywhere," said Thomas Tucker, NCBRT Director. "We are especially vulnerable here in the United States with our complex processing and distribution system and high volume of imported goods. That is why the NCBRT has gotten ahead of the game by developing and offering training to help prevent and prepare for such an incident."  

"We are pleased to support such a crucial course," says Jerry Wojtala, Executive Director with the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI). "This course is a key to preventing the devastating consequences a food contamination incident, like the one we're seeing now, can have if government, food industry and public health officials are unprepared."

The Food and Agriculture Protection Training Consortium (FAPTC), is comprised of eight university-based training centers along with the International Food Protection Training Institute.  It is focused on developing and delivering food protection training primarily to U.S. government regulatory officials at the federal, state, local, tribal and territorial levels along with others responsible for safety of the U.S. food supply, such as industry, third party auditors and regulatory officials in other countries.  

FAPTC provides sustainable, standardized, current, peer-reviewed, on-demand training both domestically and internationally essential for the coordinated prevention and response to food safety incidents impacting the U.S. food supply and citizens. More information on FAPTC can be found at www.faptc.org. 

NCBRT Contact:

Julie Cavin

Public Affairs & Outreach Coordinator, NCBRT

(225) 578-0619

jcavin@ncbrt.lsu.edu

IFPTI Contact:

Jerry Wojtala

jerry.wojtala@ifpti.org 

Language and Culture Day Camps at MSU

Every summer, MSU offers language and culture day camps for children ages 7-12 on campus. They take place for one week (Monday-Thursday or Friday) from 9 am - 4 pm. Morning-only options are available for all camps. No previous knowledge of the language is necessary and children of higher proficiency levels can be accommodated. For more information, visit http://cls.celta.msu.edu/camp.php.

FDA Public Meeting on the Food Safety Modernization Act: Inspection/Compliance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced an advance notice of Registration to attend the Public Meeting entitled, "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act: Focus on Inspection and Compliance Provisions." 

The public meeting will be held on Monday, June 6, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET, with registration open at 7:30 a.m. The meeting location is on the FDA White Oak Campus, The Great Room, Building 31, Room 1503, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20993. This is the third public meeting FDA has held on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The previous meetings, held on March 29 and April 20, 2011, focused on the import and preventive controls provisions under FSMA.

The Federal Register notice announcing this meeting is expected to publish soon.

The purpose of this public meeting is to provide interested persons an opportunity to discuss implementation of the inspection and compliance provisions of the recently enacted FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The public will have an opportunity to provide information and share views that will inform the development of guidance and regulations and/or the implementation of: Enforcement Authorities; Frequency and Targeting of Facility Inspections; Manner of Inspection in a Preventive Controls Environment; and Enhancement of the Reportable Food Registry (RFR).

FDA officials scheduled to speak include:

• Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods
• Dara Corrigan, Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs
• Barbara Cassens, Chair, Implementation Team for Inspections and Compliance
• Howard Sklamberg, Vice Chair, Implementation Team for Inspections and Compliance
• Roberta Wagner, Vice Chair, Implementation Team for Inspections and Compliance

Meeting participants will be able to attend three of four breakout sessions addressing Enforcement Authorities, Frequency and Targeting of Facility Inspections, Manner of Inspection in a Preventive Controls Environment, and Enhancement of the Reportable Food Registry (RFR). Each breakout session will be 75 minutes.

Registration for this meeting is currently available. You can pre-register to participate at the meeting on location or pre-register for the Webcast at:http://www.blsmeetings.net/FDAInspection&Compliance. Seating is limited, please register early.

Seminar: Reinventing Transnational Governance to Improve the Safety of the Global Food Supply

On Wednesday, April 27th, Neal Fortin will present the Malcolm Trout lecture at 4:00 pm, 1135 S. Anthony Hall. (This room is located to the south of the Dairy Store in Anthony Hall on the Michigan State University campus.) The title of his talk is "Reinventing Transnational Governance to Improve the Safety of the Global Food Supply."

Call for Proposals

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Public Health Law Research program has announced a call for proposals for studies aimed at building the evidence base for strengthening the use of regulatory, legal, and policy solutions to improve public health. The deadline for submitting a preliminary proposal is April 20, 2011. For more information, visit here. 

RWJ Health Impact Project Issues Call for Proposals

Health Impact Project: Advancing Smarter Policies for Healthier Communities Application Deadline: June 1, 2011 5:00 PM EDT The Health Impact Project is a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts advancing the use of health impact assessment (HIA), which provides sound, objective data than can help decision-makers identify the health ramifications of proposals in a range of sectors that do not traditionally focus on health outcomes, and make recommendations that enhance health benefits and minimize adverse effects and associated costs. A new call for proposals has been issued to help demonstrate the effectiveness of HIAs and promote their incorporation into local, state, tribal and federal decision-making.  More details and how to apply.

Summer Academy on Global Food law & Policy 2011

The third Summer Academy in Global Food Law & Policy will take place at Como Lake - Italy, July 25-29, 2011, at the beautiful Villa La Collina. A distinguished faculty from relevant food organizations (WTO, Codex, EFSA, EU Commission), industry (Coca Cola) as well as academia (Michigan, Bocconi, HEC Paris) will be animating cutting-edge discussions on the latest developments in global food governance, from food private standards to health claims, from US Food Modernization Act to novel food regulation. 

Among the those presenting are four faculty from the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations (IFLR) at Michigan State University: Neal Fortin, Professor at MSU and IFLR Director along with IFLR guest instructors Alberto Alemmano, Associate Professor of Law at HEC Paris, Gretchen Stanton,  Senior Counsellor at WTO, and Raymond O'Rourke, Barrister, Ireland.

For more information on the program and the faculty, please find the brochure here and more information here and here. Please don't hesitate to contact Nikola Bock (bock@lexxion.de) for more information.

Seminar: “The Role of Science in Meeting the Grand Challenges of the 21st Century” Roger Beachy

"The Role of Science in Meeting

the Grand Challenges of

the 21st Century"

Roger Beachy, Ph.D.

Director of USDA/NIFA

Monday, March 14, 3:00 pm

101 Biochemistry Building

Michigan State University 

All welcome.

Dr. Roger Beachy was appointed to be the first director of the National Institutes of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in October, 2009, and named Chief Scientist at USDA in January 2010.  As Director of NIFA, he oversees awarding extramural funds for Research, Extension and Education for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; as Chief Scientist, he is responsible for coordinating science activities across the department.  Dr. Roger N. Beachy, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is internationally known for his groundbreaking research on developing virus-resistant plants through biotechnology. 

Dr. Beachy has received a number of honors for his research.  He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and in 2001 received the Wolf Prize in Agriculture.  He is a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology, the National Academy of Science, India, and the Academy of Science of St. Louis.  In 2003, he was elected Councilor for the National Academy of Sciences, and currently serves as a member of the editorial board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Dr Beachy was awarded the Dennis Robert Hoagland Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists, an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Michigan State University, and the William D. Phillips Technology Advancement Award from the St. Louis County Economic Council.  Dr. Beachy was named R&D Magazine's Scientist of the Year for 1999.   He was the 1991 recipient of the Bank of Delaware's Commonwealth Award for Science and Industry and the 1990 recipient of the American Phytopathological Society's Ruth Allen Award.  

Dr. Beachy holds a Ph.D. in plant pathology from Michigan State University and earned a B.A. in biology from Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana.

Conference on the Safety in Global Food Supply Chains April 27 & 28

The University of Wisconsin–Madison will present a conference addressing implications for import safety of the globalization of the food supply. Panels will examine the development of policies and procedures for dealing with import safety in the public and private sectors, as well as public-private partnerships. 
Agenda and registration visit here.

2011 FDLI Writing Competitions Now Open

The Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) sponsors the H. Thomas Austern Memorial Writing Competitions to encourage law students interested in food and drug law. There are two competitions - one for papers with a maximum of 40 pages, and one for papers between 41 and 100 pages.

Entrants must be currently enrolled in a J.D. program at any of the nation's "ABA-accredited" law schools or a 2010-2011 academic year graduate. Papers should provide an in-depth analysis of a current legal issue concerning food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices or tobacco. FDLI welcomes the submission of papers prepared for course work, but entrants must pay attention to competition details and edit such papers accordingly.

For more information, access the FDLI website.

Food Safety Regulation Discussion Forums this month

Small food processors, producers and food entrepreneurs are invited to participate in a series of forum discussions on Michigan food safety regulations. As the Michigan Food Law is improved and revised, these forums provide an opportunity for small and medium size farm operators and food entrepreneurs to provide input on food safety and how regulations affect them.

The forums are hosted by Michigan Food & Farming Systems (MIFFS) with funding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture in order to learn more about perceptions and experiences of food safety regulations and discover if and how regulations have constrained the viability of small food businesses. Pre-registration is requested; you can register by clicking the "Register now" links below or at www.miffs.org/foodsafetyforums.asp.

These forums will take place throughout the month of March at the following locations:

·         March 2, 2011 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the NEW Center,1100 N. Main St., Ann Arbor

o    Register now

·         March 9, 2011 from 6 – 8 p.m.  at the Portage Public Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage

o    Register now

·         March 15, 2011 from 9 – 11 a.m. at Michigan State University (MSU) Extension - Bay County, 515 Center Ave., Bay City

o    Register now

·         March 25, 2011 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at MSU Extension - Mecosta County, 14485 Northland Dr., Big Rapids

o    Register now

·         March 30, 2011 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Holiday Inn, 1201 W. Main St., Gaylord

o    Register now

For further details, contact Jenifer Buckley, Project Manager, at jbuckley@msu.edu or (517) 355-5962. 

Do You Spend Time Keeping Your Files in Sync?

Syncing files from one computer to another used to be a constant task in my work flow. Sometimes it created annoying workflow bottlenecks. 

If you need to have copies of the same files on different computers,you simply have to try out DropBox.com. This amazing free service lets you keep multiple computers in sync so seamlessly that you will forget about it.

I used to move files back and forth with USB drives. I have a drawerful of USB drives and a couple of portable hard drives that are obsolete. Instead, Dropbox creates a special folder called "Dropbox." Anything put in that folder gets magically synchronized to Dropbox's servers, and then downloaded to the other selected machines automatically. It is not intended as a backup service, but the files are stored on the Dropbox server and the multiple machines. Even better, it is cross-platform and works on PCs, Macs, iPads, and even smartphones.

Dropbox totally changed my workflow for the better. Try it out. If you use my affiliate code by using this link, you'll get an extra 250Mb of DropBox storage for free: nealfortin_dropbox_link. The 2GB account is free. Give it a shot. It is awesome!

"Food Safety Research in FDA: Collected Stories" Seminar on February 16, 2011

Mary Lou Tortorello, Ph.D., Chief, Food Technology Branch, NCFST/FDA will be presenting a seminar on Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 4:00 p.m. in 1135 S. Anthony Hall, Michigan State University.  Her presentation "Food Safety Research in FDA:  Collected Stories" is part of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition Spring Seminar Series.

Food Labeling: Where Science, Health, and Policy Meet

On February 9, Barbara Schneeman,Ph.D. Director, Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements, CFSAN-FDA, will present the lecture, "Food Labeling: Where Science, Health, and Policy Meet." The location is 105 East Fee Hall, Michigan State University. The time is 4:00 pm.

AFDO Scholarship Awards

Applications are being sought for the AFDO Scholarship Awards. The George M. Burditt Scholarship, the Betsy B. Woodward Scholarship and the Denise C. Rooney Scholarship in the amounts of $1500.00 each are awarded annually to three worthy recipients, who are in their third year of college. The following qualifications have been established for the award recipients: The recipients should have demonstrated a desire to serve in a career of research, regulatory work, quality control, or teaching in an area related to some aspect of food, drugs, or consumer product safety; should have demonstrated leadership capabilities; and must have at least a 3.0 grade average during the first two years of undergraduate study on a scale of 4.0. To apply, in addition to completing an application, an official and complete college transcript must be submitted along with letters of recommendation from two faculty members.  It is necessary to use the official AFDO Scholarship Award application. This form is available on AFDO's Scholarship Award Web page. The applications must be returned to the Awards Chair by February 1, 2011, to be considered.

Foodie Movies in the Middle” film series

What: An MSU film series all about FOOD!  

When: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00 noon – 12:45 pm, January-April (between the 2 sections of HNF150).  A tentative schedule, which will be updated, is listed below.

Where: 1281 Anthony Hall

Jan 18 (T): Super Size Me (first half)

Jan 20 (Th): Super Size Me (second half)

Jan 25 (T):  King Corn (first half)

Jan 27 (Th): King Corn (second half)

Feb 1 (T): Asparagus – Stalking the American Life (first half)

Feb 3 (Th): Asparagus – Stalking the American Life (second half) &

    What will we Eat: The Search for Healthy Local Food 

Feb 8: NO FILM

This series is free and open to the MSU community. 

(Future dates will be posted)

Searching to learn about food laws?

Michigan Sea Grant Fellowships

Applicants for three fellowship programs are being accepted from graduate students with a wide range of backgrounds (science, policy, law) and strong interest in Great Lakes, coastal or marine issues. The deadline is February 1, 2011. Web Site: www.miseagrant.umich.edu/research/fellowships

Applications now being accepted for the 2011 IFPTI food safety fellows

The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) Applied Science, Law, and Policy: Fellowship in Food Protection program is designed to provide experienced food regulatory professionals, from all areas of food protection, with critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making skills, within the framework of Food Regulatory science, law, and policy. This program is a series of three training sessions that are held in Battle Creek, Michigan over the course of one year. The sessions are divided in the following seminars style classes. 1) Law, 2) Policies, Strategies, and Tools, 3) Labeling, 4) Evolving Science of Food Protection, 5) Food Systems Control Applications and 6) Prevention, Intervention, and Response.


Click here for more information.

Celebrating the EU risk regulation paradigm for decision-making

On December 22 2010, the European Courts delivered their most important risk regulation judgment since Pfizer. It is not possible to do justice to the reasoning of the Court in a few lines, but Alberto Alemanno has brought this important judgment to our attention, The Gowan judgment: celebrating the EU risk regulation paradigm for decision-making.

Alberto Alemanno is an instructor in the International Food Law course with the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University.

Happy Holidays

Summer Academy on Global Food Law & Policy

The academy will be held from 25 until 29 July, 2011, at the historical Villa La Collina, Lake Como, Italy. The academy will offer scientific reflection and discourse on key legal and policy issues in European and world food law as well as information and updates on the latest developments. Neal Fortin, Director of the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations (IFLR) at Michigan State University, and IFLR instructors Alberto Alemmano,  and Gretchen Stanton are among the note faculty. For more information, click here.

Job Openings

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, is seeking a public health law intern for Summer 2011. The intern will assist with research, field scans, and other work to assist in efforts to build the field of public health law. For more details on this opportunity and to apply, visit job opportunities on http://www.rwjf.org/employment.

The O'Neill Institute is seeking an exceptionally qualified candidate to serve as an O'Neill Institute Law Fellow. The candidate should have a J.D. degree (or equivalent) and research interests in health law related areas such as public health law, global health law, domestic health care law, empirical studies, regulatory impacts of health law, and/or health and human rights. This Fellowship term will be January to August 2011, and the application deadline is December 30, 2010. For more information, visithttp://www.law.georgetown.edu/oneillinstitute/index.cfm.

Congratulations to Ralph Blanchfield on receiving IUFoST Lifetime Achievement Award

The Institute for Food Laws and Regulations (IFLR) congratulates J. Ralph Blanchfield on receiving the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award.  

Ralph Blanchfield is an adjunct professor and an instructor in IFLR's International Food Law course. We thank him for a lifetime of service to food science, food safety worldwide, and for his contributions teaching at IFLR.

Congratulations, Ralph!

Dean a finalist for Calif. university presidency

Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is one of three finalists for the presidency of California Polytechnic State University. More of the story is available here.

Food Safety Instructors Wanted

The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI), in support of a Nationally Integrated Food Safety System and FDA's Training Vision, have begun an effort to identify qualified instructors for various food protection training courses.   IFPTI is surveying to identify existing or potential food safety training instructors within the food protection community. This includes current or former employees of agencies, industry, or academia having expertise in food protection. Content areas of expertise include food, dairy, feed, produce, laboratory, epidemiology, shellfish, meat, egg, or any other related areas.   A National Food Protection Training Curriculum is being developed and IFPTI is collecting this pool of instructors in order to identify opportunities to expand the delivery of existing as well as yet-to-be-developed training courses across the country.  Interested individuals may be contacted about attending instructor training, auditing course deliveries, performing actual training, or assisting on course and curriculum development activities.       Please open the link below, complete the "Instructor Assessment Preference" form and check those courses listed that you are qualified and have an interest in teaching.  You are encouraged to identify other courses not listed for which you are also qualified.  Instructor Assessment Preference Form

Government Perspectives and Consumer Insights on Label Claims (webcast slide presentation posted)

A Web cast hosted by the International Food Information Council Foundation featured speakers to discuss the rules and regulations that support the use of label claims and research into how people use the food label when choosing foods and beverages. Click here to view Web cast slides (PDF).

The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) Seeks Authors and Peer Reviewers

The inaugural issue of JAFSCD is now online. The first issue of this international, peer-reviewed journal of applied research and policy analysis is available free to view at www.AgDevJournal.com. JAFSCD is for agencies, organizations, and academics interested in expanding local and regional food systems. 

MSU Student Wins FDLI Writing Award

Jason Murdey, an MSU College of Law Candidate for Juris Doctor May 2011, recently was honored with First Place Award in the short paper category of the Thomas H. Auden Memorial Writing Competition at the Institute for Food and Drug Law. His article,Preemption of the "Fraud on the FDA" Exception to Michigan's Tort Immunity Statute for Drug Manufacturers: Reconsidering Garcia and Desiano after Levine, will appear in the February 2011 issue of the Food & Drug Law Journal. The journal is the most widely read and referenced journal in the field. Most of the previous winners who have won in past years have been Harvard Law students. Jason's other activities include: Law Review Associate Editor; President, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund; Student Bar Association Liaison to the Ingham County Bar Association.

Interested in a Research Position?

Laboratory Assistant Position

A six months to one year position is currently available; ~10-20 hrs per week; $10 per hour

Qualifications and skills

Sound knowledge of biological science; enthusiasm and aptitude to participate as a team member in a US EPA funded project; previous hands-on experience required (preparing buffers, pH measurements, mouse work)

You will have opportunity to get training in Immunology; learn ELISA, Western, cell culture, non-invasive cardiovascular measurements etc.

Research Area: Food Allergy and Immunology

For more information

Please contact ASAP with your resume

Venu Gangur, DVM, MVS, PhD

Associate Professor,

302-B GM Trout Bldg, MSU

gangur@msu.edu

517-355-8474x134

Symposium: New Landscapes in Food and Agricultural Law and Policy

The University of Oregon School of Law will be presenting a symposium titled, Cultivating our Future:  New Landscapes in Food and Agricultural Law and Policy. The symposium is October 1, 2010, 8-5pm PST, in Eugene, Oregon. Neal Fortin, Director of the Institute for Food Laws & Regulations at Michigan State University will be presenting on the panel, “Food for Thought–Strategies for Advocacy.”  

Click here for more information. 

Click here to register.

Food Safety Accountability Act

Senators Patrick Leahy, Amy Klobuchar, and Al Franken have introduced the FOOD SAFETY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2010, (S. 3767). The bill would not amend the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Rather the bill creates a new penalty in Chapter 47 of title 18 of the United States Code. Title 18 contains crimes and criminal procedure, and chapter 47 contains the various crimes of fraud.  The new criminal penalty would be for knowing introduction of misbranded or adulterated food into interstate commerce. 

There already is an intentional crime penalty section in the FDCA. So it is interesting that the Senators choose the fraud chapter of criminal code rather than the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). Perhaps they did this to move the bill through a more favorable committee. Senator Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Maybe this will prod the Senate to vote on the Food Safety Modernization Act, S. 510, which has languished in the Senate for 13 months.

Today- The Future of Food Safety

TODAY

The 22nd ANNUAL G. MALCOLM TROUT LECTURE

with

Caroline Smith DeWaal

Director, Food Safety Program

Center for Science in the Public Interest

 

"Food Safety: Learning from the Past to set Priorities and Make Improvements"

 

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

MAIN DINING ROOM, UNIVERSITY CLUB

3435 Forest Road, Lansing, MI 48909

 

5:30 PM Reception

6:30 PM Program/Lecture 

********************************************

Tomorrow, September 14

TIME:  1:10 – 2:00 pm

LOCATION:  115 International Center

                        Michigan State University

The Future of Food Safety: A Roundtable Discussion

with

Caroline Smith DeWaal, Director, Food Safety Program

Center for Science in the Public Interest

 

Elliot Ryser, Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition

Michigan State University

 

Neal Fortin, Director, Institute for Food Laws & Regulations 

Michigan State University

 

Craig Harris, Associate Professor, Sociology Social Science

Michigan State University

 

Ewen Todd, Professor, Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing

Michigan State University

 

Gerald Wojtala, Executive Director

International Food Protection Training Institute

Webinar: Superbugs, Super Problems: Agricultural Antibiotics and Emerging Infections

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) announced a September 16, 2010, webinar titled, "Superbugs, Super Problems: Agricultural Antibiotics and Emerging Infections." "The new scientific consensus is that routine, unnecessary use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry contributes significantly to a costly epidemic of antibiotic resistance." To register for the program, please click here.

FDA Public Hearing on the Labeling of Food Made from GE Salmon

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has scheduled a public hearing regarding the labeling of food made from AquAdvantage Salmon. AquAdvantage Salmon is a genetically engineered (GE) Atlantic salmon. The hearing will be held on September 21, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20850, phone: (301) 468-1100.

The purpose of this hearing is for FDA to explain the relevant legal principles for food labeling and to solicit information and views from interested persons on the application of these principles to the labeling of food made from AquAdvantage Salmon. Additional details about the hearing are provided in a formal notice published in the Federal Register on August 26, 2010 and in a related Background Document: Public Hearing on the Labeling of Food Made from the AquAdvantage Salmon.

EFLA Congress on Private Food Law

The European Food Law Association (EFLA) Congress, which will take place in Amsterdam from September 15–17, 2010, is entitled "Non-regulatory dimensions of food law." Lawrence Busch, University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University, will present the talk, "Quasi-States? The Unexpected Rise of Private Food Law."  He discusses how the retreat of the state led to the rise of a wide range of 'quasi-states' of firms, industry groups, and private voluntary organisations, pursuing their own aims and interests through private codes, laws, rules, and regulations. Whether they can achieve legitimacy and democratic modes of governance remains to be seen.

For more information, please visit www.efla-aeda.org. 

Webinar on Using a Food Label to Make Smart Food Choices August 10

FDA will host an online session, Using a Food Label to Make Smart Food Choices, and invites questions from the public on how to use the food label to make wise choices on Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 

Michigan Food Processors Summit

Foreign Service Officer Positions

David Yanggen writes, "Now is probably the best time in 20 years to apply to USAID for career foreign service officer positions. There is the development leadership initiative underway to hire Junior Officers and some mid-career professionals and AID is attempting to double its foreign service officer staff from around 1,000 to roughly 2,000. They are about 40% toward that goal so there is still time to get in on it. Both program economists and and agricultural specialist positions (including agricultural economists) are being beefed up so someone with a Masters or PhD from MSU and ideally some overseas experience would have a good shot at getting in the Agency. Applicants must have US citizenship." Here is the website link http://www.usaid.gov/careers/fs.html.

MSU Reception Sunday, July 18, Hilton Chicago Hotel

Join Neal Fortin, IFLR Director, and Mary Anne Verleger, IFLR Course Manager, and other MSU faculty, staff, and students at the MSU Reception during the IFT Annual Meeting.  The MSU reception is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 18 at the Hilton Chicago Hotel, Astoria Room. Tickets are $20.00 and must be purchased two days in advance through advanced registration for the IFT Meeting. 

The Institute for Food Laws & Regulations the Master of Science in Food Safety Program will be sharing Booth #6219 at the IFT Food Expo, July 17-21, 2010, McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois. 

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago.