Disclosures about Audit Scheme Effectiveness

This blog post has been moved to the author's eBook. Check it out here: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KHD313B

Posted by Felix Amiri

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Felix Amiri is currently the chair of GCSE-Food & Health Protection, and a sworn SSQA advocate.

Institute of Food Processing Technology Industry Event - May 2017:

Food Industry Tools of the Trade Presentations

Jointly Sponsored By:

GCSE-Food & Health Protection

&

Conestoga College 

(Institute of Food Processing Technology – IFPT)

Date: May 10, 2017

Time: 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Venue: Conestoga College

850 Fountain St S, Cambridge, ON N3H 0A8
Driving Directions

Registration Update
All set for May 10th! General registration has now closed. 

Organizations/companies represented by registered participants include:

3M Food Safety	Jusufagic (Manufacturing/R&D/PD)
AFISS	Keybrand Foods
AKM FoodTech Consulting	Malabar Super Spice Co. Ltd.
ALMAAS Food Safety Plus	Maple Lodge Farms
Cargill Limited	MMIS Mondo
Carlisle Technology	Nestle Nutrition
Conestoga College	OFPA
CPG Executive Search	OMAFRA
Degroot Design	Pfenning's Organic Farm
Dicentra inc	PH Food
DIGI Cold Chain	Real Food for Real Kids
Erie Meat	Sanitation Pros Inc.
Excellent Manufacturing Consortium (EMC)	Seneca College
Florentina Foods Ltd.	Siemens Canada Limited
Food and Beverage Ontario	SJB Food Safety & Quality Assurance Consulting
FoodGrads Recruitment	Solution Technologies
Giraffe Food Inc	Toastmasters-Mount Forest Motivators
Give and Go Prepared Foods Ltd.	TRG Retail
Griffith Foods	University of Toronto
Guelph Food Innovation Center-University of Guelph	University of Waterloo
Gum Products International Inc.	VG Meats
Italiasalami

3-Part Purpose of the Event

(1) To introduce available tools, instruments and software systems that are helpful in the management of food safety and quality. Through this event, we wish to make students and invited industry participants aware of tools that are available to them. Participants will learn about why, where, when and how to use the tools presented as well as where or how to obtain them.

(2) To shed some light on what is happening in the food industry through the “State of the Industry Lectures”. This is in recognition of the need to inspire a determination among the students entering the workforce to maintain what is already good as well as to pursue improvements where necessary. The industry needs future leaders; not mere followers.

(3) To provide a networking opportunity for all attendees, particularly the students looking for employment, and industry participants looking for employees. This networking segment also gives industry participants the opportunity to learn about the types of short-term courses offered at the college that their current staff may need.

This event is deliberately planned to, within a relatively short space of time, provide a forum for making meaningful connections between students and the industry that go beyond what typically occurs in a conventional job-fair.

Arrival 3:30 4:00 pm


  

Welcome & Opening Remarks 4:00 - 4:20 pm

Luis Garcia: Chair of the Institute of Food Processing Technology at Conestoga College

Luis holds a Master of Science degree in Food Science from the University of Guelph and brings international experience as a food scientist and former manager of a major international processing operation. He has taught graduate courses at University, trained hundreds of adult employees in the food industry, and co-led the development of a workshop for managers and owners on how to create a food safety culture.

Luis will welcome everyone and provide a summary of the training and educational opportunities at Conestoga College for the food industry.

Felix Amiri:  State of Food Safety and Quality Management 4:20- 4:50 pm

Felix is the current food sector chair of the Global Coalition for Sustained Excellence in Food & Health Protection (GCSE-FHP). He also teaches International Food Safety Law and Regulations at Conestoga College. Felix is very familiar with food safety and quality management systems. He serves as the Technical Director at Amiri Food Industry Support Services (AFISS) and he is a key contributor to the development and implementation of the Safety, Security and Quality Assurance (SSQA) concept.

Felix will deliver the state of the industry lecture on Food Safety and Quality Management with a look at current challenges, successes, industry self-monitoring arrangements and regulatory oversight.

Short Break: 4:50 - 5:00 pm

Tools of the Trade Presentations

Nathalie St. Amour: 3M Food Safety  5:00 - 5:20 pm

Nathalie St-Amour supports customers in Ontario as 3M Food Safety field representative, focusing on the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario. With a B.Sc in Engineering, Nathalie has been with 3M Food Safety for over 15 years and has extensive technical experience in troubleshooting, training and supporting the food industry with 3M’s product portfolio.

Certain routine activities are inescapable no matter how small the operation. For example, every food establishment must conduct sanitation activities and verify the effectiveness. Nathalie will present an overview of tools for a number of routine operations in a food establishment. These include; sanitation verification tools, microbiological testing options, process control (e.g. UHT) test kits, etc.

Wayne Slater:  SYSPRO Canada - Food Traceability Software 5:20 - 5:40 pm

Wayne is the co-author of Food Traceability for Dummies. He has been helping organizations solve their businesses challenges through the application of technology solutions and business process analysis for more than 20 years. As the VP of Channel Sales at SYSPRO Canada (an ERP company) and prior Director of Sales and Marketing for Carlisle Technology, Wayne is dedicated to helping food companies to meet their supply-chain and regulatory requirements, streamline productivity, and improve profitability.

With an ever-increasing need to maintain effective traceability of all input materials for food operations, manual approaches are growing increasingly tedious and inconsistent. Tools that simplify consistent traceability are in much need. Wayne will be presenting how electronic software systems provide not only traceability, but can also be used to improve your company brand and increase profits.

Felix Amiri: AfisTrack - Supplier Risk Assessment (Database) Aid  5:40 - 6:00 pm

Irrespective of the size, every food operation has a supply chain that must be effectively managed. Evolving regulations and external audit requirements now stipulate supplier risk assessment and management as key food business considerations.  With or without regulatory and external audit requirements, a good supply chain management differentiates food businesses that thrive well from those that do not. While the challenge may be lesser for very small operations, the task of supplier risk assessment and management can be frustrating especially with the ever-expanding supply network. Some aid is needed. Felix will be presenting the AfissTrack - SSQA Supply Partner Risk Assessment database that is designed as a supplier risk assessment task simplification aid. 

Networking Break: 6:00 - 6:20 pm

Alice Michaud: Trends in Available Jobs / Prospective Job Opportunities 6:20 - 6:40 pm

Alice Michaud is Manager, Career Hub at Conestoga College.

Closing & Tour of IFPT Pilot Plant : 6:40 - 7:00 pm
       (Optional and depending on interest and time available)

Wrong Exit

This blog post has been moved to the author's eBook. Check it out here: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KHD313B

Posted by Felix Amiri

___________________________________________________________

Felix Amiri is currently the chair of GCSE-Food & Health Protection, and a sworn SSQA advocate.

FSMA: Baffling (Barf-fling?) Exemptions for a New Era Regulatory Initiative (Restaurants & Retail)

According to FDA:

"Facilities That Do Not Have to Register"

If your facility is involved in one of the following activities, it does NOT have to register with FDA.

These Facilities DON’T Have to Register

• Private residences of individuals, even though food may be manufactured/processed, packed, or held in them.
• Non-bottled water drinking water collection and distribution establishments and structures, such as municipal water systems.
• Transport vehicles that hold food only in the usual course of their business as carriers.
• Farms — i.e., facilities in one general location devoted to growing and harvesting crops (washing, trimming outer leaves, and cooling produce are part of harvesting) and/or raising animals (including seafood). The term “farm” includes facilities that pack or hold food, provided that all food used in those activities is grown, raised, or consumed on that farm or another farm under the same ownership, as well as facilities that manufacture/process food, provided that all food used in such activities is consumed on that farm or another farm under the same ownership.
  
• Restaurants — i.e., facilities that prepare and sell food directly to consumers for immediate consumption, including pet shelters, kennels, and veterinary facilities that provide food directly to animals. Facilities that provide food to interstate conveyances, such as commercial aircraft, or central kitchens that do not prepare and serve food directly to consumers, are not restaurants for purposes of 21 CFR Part 1, Subpart H.
• Retail food establishments, such as grocery stores, delis, roadside stands that sell food directly to consumers as their primary function, meaning that annual food sales directly to consumers are of greater dollar value than annual sales to other buyers.
• Nonprofit food facilities,which are charitable entities that meet the terms of § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that prepare or serve food directly to the consumer or otherwise provide food or meals for consumption by humans or animals in the U.S. This includes central food banks, soup kitchens, and nonprofit food delivery services.
• Fishing vessels that do not process fish. Such fishing vessels may engage in practices other than processing such as harvesting and transporting fish, and heading, eviscerating, or freezing fish solely to prepare the fish for holding on board the vessel.
• Facilities regulated exclusively and throughout the entire facility by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that is, facilities handling only meat, poultry, or egg products."

 Information Source:

 Phone, B. (n.d.). Guidance for Industry: What You Need to Know About Registration of Food Facilities; Small Entity Compliance Guide. Retrieved September 16, 2016, from http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/FoodDefense/ucm331957.htm 

Posted by Felix Amiri

___________________________________________________________

Felix Amiri is currently the chair of GCSE-Food & Health Protection, and a sworn SSQA advocate.

Coalition Membership Certificates

Suspension of Membership Certificate Issuance 

We regret to announce that, due to increased administrative costs, limited funds and an observed lack of interest in certificate renewals, the Coalition has decided to suspend the issuance of membership certificates. At the same time, we are glad to state that this decision has been reached because of the fast growing membership.

Membership remains ll members will continue to be listed on the Coalition’s website as proof of membership. As always, please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, comments, etc.