A two-day research symposium hosted by the Center for Produce Safety and the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Association will take place Tuesday, June 20, and Wednesday, June 21, at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center.
Visit https://vimeo.com/215259081 for a video invitation from CFVGA President Robert Sakata and Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture Don Brown. And for the full agenda, go to http://www.centerforproducesafety.org/amass/documents/document/386/2017%20CPS%20Symposium%20Program%20Final%206.6.2017.pdf
The first-ever Colorado CPS Research Symposium will highlight a number of issues facing the produce industry today, with in-depth discussions to include a look at agricultural water and supply chain food safety.
The event will kick off with comments by Tim York, chairman of the CPS board of directors. Ag water will come up next, focusing on four CPS funded research programs developed to help stakeholders better understand the factors involved in sourcing, sampling, testing and treating specific types of agricultural water,” according to the agenda.
Key points of the session are identification of “novel indicator organisms to determine the risks of fecal contamination of irrigation waters,” featuring Kelly Bright from the University of Arizona; microbial food safety risks of using tail water for leafy greens production, featuring Michael Cahn from the University of California Cooperative Extension, demonstration of practical, effective and environmentally sustainable agricultural water treatments to achieve compliance with microbiological criteria, featuring Ana Allende, CEBAS CSIC, Spain; and improved sampling and testing ag water for pathogens, surrogates and source tracking indicators, featuring Vincent Hill from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Moderating the session will be Jim Gorny from the Produce Marketing Association, and panelists will be Samir Assar from the USDA, DeAnn Davis from Earthbound and Walter Ram from Giumarra Cos.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will welcome attendees to the Centennial State prior to a break, and a Stakeholder Value Session will follow with Drew McDonald of Taylor Farms and Bob Whitaker of PMA. Panelists for this session will be Samir Assar, Sharan Lanini of Pacific International Marketing and Robert Sakata, representing Sakata Farms.
The next session will be FSMA Methods for Testing Ag Water, a CPS Colloquium and will feature panelists Hank Giclas, Western Growers, and Trevor Suslow of the University of California at Davis.
The day’s “Lightning Sessions” will “explore exciting new pathogen testing technologies, an emerging class of pathogen indicators, and touch on the phenomena of viable but nonculturable bacteria and why they may or may not be an important food safety consideration.”
Additional Stakeholder Value Sessions will be held, and panelists are to include Tony DiMare of DiMare Fresh, Steve Kenfield of HMC Farms and Robert Kershaw of Domex Superfresh Growers.
Wednesday’s sessions will include “Validation,” which looks at a FSMA cornerstone, “the need to validate key processes or practices employed to manage food safety hazards.”
Attendees will look at “comparative genomics analysis and physiological assessment of the avirulent Salmonella surrogate relevant to food safety,” featuring Julie Meyer, University of Florida; “establishing die-off rates of surrogate and virulent EHEC/STEC strains from strawberry and cilantro surfaces: time, inoculum dose and chemical intervention,” featuring Eduardo Gutierrez-Rodriguez, North Carolina State University; “validating a physically heat-treated process for poultry litter in industry settings using the avirulent Salmonella surrogates or indicator microorganisms,” featuring Xiuping Jiang, Clemson University; and “improving pasteurization validation methods for pistachio processing,” featuring Bradley Marks, Michigan State University. Moderator will be James Brennan, SmartWash Solutions, and panelists will be Kent Kise of Ready Pac, Martha Roberts of Roberts Associates and Felice Arboisiere of Yum Brands.
The day will also include lightning rounds on a number of food safety topics, Stakeholder value Sessions and a final session entitled “Lasting Impressions” led by CPS Board Chair and Markon Cooperative President Tim York. It will look at the two days and discuss key learnings and new information presented during the symposium.
