Enhanced
COMMUNICATION
Technical Hotline - Now with Email!
Get answers to your technical questions via our free Technical Hotline
- now featuring email! RFA members can contact RFA Technical Director
Martin Mitchell directly via phone or email to ask questions on food
safety and regulatory issues. The Technical Hotline phone number is
1-800-237-8522 and the Hotline email address is marty@refrigeratedfoods.org.
Technical E-News and E-News Index
Get up-to-date news on the latest food safety and regulatory issues
affecting the industry delivered to your email every other Friday.
The Technical E-News is a bimonthly email newsletter containing the
latest technical news headlines with links to the full articles.
Also available is the Technical E-News Index - an archive of all past
Technical E-news articles organized by topic. Researching recent news
on allergens? Just click the topic “Allergens” for the
full list of articles related to that subject.
The Technical E-News Index as well as all current and past issues
of the Technical E-News are available to view on the RFA website in
the Members-Only Section.
RFA Listserv
Have a question about plant design? Looking for feedback from other
members on a new software program? Get involved in the RFA Listserv!
The RFA Listserv is an email discussion group that allows members to
send questions or comments to an entire group at one time. It is an
easy and effective way to get advice and input from other members on
any topic pertaining to refrigerated foods. For full details on how
the Listserv works and to find out how you can get involved, click
here.
Continuing
EDUCATION
Technical Web Conferences
The RFA Technical Committee hosts four technical web conferences per
year on timely, relevant food safety and regulatory topics. Titles
from the four web conferences this year are below. Slide presentations
for all past web conferences are now available in the Members-Only
Section.
• Surviving Audits and Understanding ISO
22000 (November 2007)
by Bruce Becker of GMA-SAFE and John
Kukoly of QMI
• Lactic Acid Bacteria and their Applications
in Foods (February 2008)
by Dr. Ronald H. Schmidt, Professor of
Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of
Florida
• Hurdle Technologies for Optimizing Food
Safety and Quality (May 2008)
by Lou Cooperhouse, Director of the
Rutgers Food Innovation Center
• The Food Safety Side of Hot Processing (September
2008)
by Kathleen Glass, Ph.D., Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison
RFA Symposium & Tour
The RFA Technical Committee plans and organizes the Technical track
portion of the RFA Symposium held each fall. is past year, the RFA
Symposium took place in Seattle, Washington, and the Technical Track
included educational sessions on high pressure processing technologies
and refrigerated transportation issues. Inaddition, it featured a full
tour of the Avure Technologies Processing facility, giving attendees
hands-on experience with cutting-edge high pressure processing technology.
This year the
Technical Committee is again planning the
technical track portion of the RFA Symposium. The 2008 Symposium will
be held in September in Chicago, Illinois. It will feature valuable
speaker sessions on food safety and natural/organic products as well
as a visit to the National Center for Food Safety and Technology and
Sterigenics Food Irradiation Facility.
Advanced
RESEARCH
Research Studies and Reports
As a member of the RFA, you have access to in-depth research that
would be cost-prohibitive to do as an individual company. The RFA continually
conducts research on a variety of important food safety issues.
What’s New: 2008
Technical Project: “The Safe Use of
Fresh-cut Produce”
Given recent foodborne illnesses and recalls
associated with fresh-cut produce, the RFA sponsored a two-part project
designed to provide guidance to members on the safe and effective use
of fresh-cut vegetables in refrigerated foods manufacturing. The first
part of the project is a comprehensive review of research and technologies
as they apply to the safemanagement of fresh-cut vegetables and provides
best practices and methods to prevent microbial contamination of these
ingredients. The second part is an experiment evaluating the effectiveness
of several currently available vegetable treatments in maintaining
the safety of produce used in manufacturing. The completed project
report is available on the RFA website.
Library of Resources
The RFA maintains a library of past RFA research studies and other
important industry resources that are available to members at no charge.
The current list of available resources includes studies on a variety
of food safety topics, including antimicrobial treatments, shelf life
protocol, control of Listeria in salads, and the browning of cabbage.
A full list of available
technical resources can be viewed here.
What’s Next: RFA Comments on FDA’s
Listeria Guidance document; Shelf Life Study Update
The Technical Committee has begun work on two technical projects to be completed
this year. The first is
the development and submission of official comments on the FDA’s proposed
Guidance on Listeria that was released in February. The Commitee has already
started working on reviewing and drafting comments and plans to submit the official
letter this summer. The second project involves updating and expanding the RFA’s
Shelf Life Protocol Study that was completed in 2001. The goal is to complete
the update by March 2009.
Get Involved!
The Technical Committee is always looking for input and comments from
members on topics and issues they would like to see addressed. If you
have input or would like to join the Technical Committee, please contact
RFA Technical Director Martin Mitchell at marty@refrigeratedfoods.org
or Technical Committee Chair Steve Loehndorf at stevel@resers.com.
What
has the RFA done for you lately?
