Scientific Sessions: Monday Afternoon Highlights
Panel Discussion
Harmonizing international regulations for control of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods
Session 174, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S504cd
Track: Public Policy, Food Laws & Regulations
The panel will discuss the current regulatory efforts of different countries, including Canada, the United States, and the European Union, on control of Listeria monocytogenes in RTE foods. Discussion on incidence and surveillance efforts by these countries will be presented. Developments in Codex Alimentarius Commission on control of Listeria monocytogenes will be presented. Current harmonization efforts on food safety regulations will be presented, including the steps taken under the Global Harmonization Initiative.
Symposia
Food structure changes through innovative processing technologies
Session 165, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S503ab
Track: Emerging Technologies & Ingredient Innovations
A major trend in global food markets is a move to foods that are minimally processed, convenient, and great tasting and contain nutrients and bioactive ingredients that provide health benefits. The control and design of structural functionality of foods is a major challenge for processing companies across a broad spectrum of the food industry. This symposium will discuss the impact of selected novel technologies and processing conditions on food constituents, underlying mechanisms and suitable areas of application for food structure forming or ingredient modification. Latest equipment developments, process efficiency, and the impact on scalability, safety, and quality will be addressed.
Dietary fat and heart disease: Time for a paradigm shift?
Session 166, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S403ab
Track: Food, Health & Nutrition
Our understanding of the effect of dietary fat on heart disease has evolved considerably over the past 30 years. This session will provide a historical overview of dietary fat and its perceived association with heart disease, summarize the new research, and provide the industry professional guidance as to what to expect in the future. Attendees will benefit by gaining a current and futuristic perspective on the consumer’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs around dietary fat so that they can better gauge demand for amounts and types of fat in products, and plan appropriate and targeted educational, marketing, and promotional efforts.
New plant sources of nutritionally beneficial omega-3’s—stearidonic acid
Session 167, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S401cd
Track: Food, Health & Nutrition
Health benefits of the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs EPA and DHA are well documented. To meet intake needs, plant-based alternatives are being developed that augment fish sources. A soybean has been genetically modified to produce stearidonic acid (SDA) by the addition of two genes from plant and microbial sources. Oil is processed similar to commodity soybean oil, is bland in flavor and has been successfully added to a range of foods, resulting in acceptable flavor and shelf life. SDA-enriched soybean oil has the potential of being formulated into shelf stable products with consumer appeal that can increase the effective intake of LCPUFAs.
Chemical migration into foods from packaging: Are materials safe enough?
Session 169, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: N427ab
Track: Food Processing & Packaging
Materials and articles intended to come into contact with food must be shown to be safe because there is a risk that chemicals from the contact material may migrate into the food. Recent development of new and sophisticated techniques for the analysis of foods has enabled detection of chemical hazards at levels lower than previously possible. The audience will have the opportunity to become engaged in the industry’s awareness efforts with new approaches and technologies to identify and mitigate the risks linked to packaging as a source of chemical contaminants. This symposium will highlight the research aimed at toxicological evaluation of BPA as well as myths and facts about its exposure and risk to consumers. Initiatives and the risk-based approach taken by regulatory agencies in controlling these chemical residues in food will also be presented.
Automation and high throughput pathogen/toxin screening technologies for food safety and food defense
Session 170, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S402ab
Primary Track: Food Safety & Defense
This session is designed to provide up-to-date information on the application of sensor technologies for online monitoring and high throughput screening of fruits, vegetables, or even meats for possible contamination. In addition, development in high throughput screening methods using array technologies for a wide range of pathogens and toxins, even unknown or genetically altered organisms in samples for food safety and food biosecurity applications.
The operation implications of new food safety regulations and GFSI
Session 171, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S404abc
Track: Food Safety & Defense
This session examines the requirements of new food safety regulations and the GFSI and how these can be met by the integration of commercial off-the-shelf systems for food safety, quality, traceability, and compliance management. Not only does this approach make your compliant FSMS more efficient and effective, it also will reduce corporate risk and total cost of ownership.
Applications of water in food quality
Session 172, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: N426b
Track: Product Development
This session will highlight practical applications for water activity, moisture content, and moisture sorption isotherms, with an emphasis on their use in low moisture products. These product quality applications will cover water’s influence on chemical stability and how it influences reaction rates, activation energy, and temperature effects. Additionally, water’s role in phase transitions and matrix stability will be outlined with an emphasis on using moisture sorption isotherms to identify critical water activity values as an alternative to more traditional DSC measurement methods for determining the glass transition temperature. Finally, strategies for controlling moisture in foods will be discussed including strategies to control moisture migration.
Food texture design and optimization: Texture measurement
Session 173, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: N426a
Track: Product Development
Food texture is one of the most significant challenges (besides flavor) in promoting the uptake of healthy foods. Measurement of food texture continues to be a challenge for the academia and food industry. There are several new approaches and techniques that have been developed and provide insight on the correlation between instrumental and sensory measurement. The talks in this session will help advance the industry and academic understanding of food texture, help share best practice, and promote the uptake of healthy and nutritious food through better design and optimization of texture. This session will include new tools and techniques that will be critical for developing expertise in food texture design and optimization and measuring the impact of processing and ageing on texture.
Health claims for food and supplements: Meeting the evidence-based requirements
Session 175, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S505ab
Track: Public Policy, Food Laws & Regulations
Regulators are using evidence-based decision criteria, which mandate the use of well-designed clinical human nutrition studies to support health claims. The session will provide a global regulatory update and comparison on the scientific requirements for substantiating health claims, including expectations for study type and quality. The challenges in designing clinical trials for foods and supplements will be discussed, with case examples covering the most critical health benefit areas. The importance of good clinical practices in the design, conduct, recording, and reporting of clinical trials involving foods and food supplements will be discussed.
Part I: The ever changing roles of sensory science and its applications in product development
Session 176, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S401ab
Track: Sensory Science
Introductory remarks will align with the past, present, and future areas of exploration of sensory as a science, its applications and methods, as well as the role sensory fulfills in industry and academia today. The second talk will provide an understanding of what are no longer viable theories. Also included is an understanding of current hypothesis regarding taste and smell perceptions. In the third talk, the application of sensory techniques and methods are discussed. The fourth talk will provide a unique perspective of sensory from the point of view of a product developer and will provide insights into the role sensory plays in the product development/innovation process. Finally, the symposium will conclude with an appreciation of providing a holistic viewpoint of the sensory experience and how this experience ties directly in with the successful development of consumer validated products.
Sustainability of global fish stocks and aquaculture to food sufficiency
Session 177, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S501cd
Track: Sustainability
This session aims at providing the audience with a broad overview of the sustainability of global fisheries and the impact of aquaculture in relieving the pressure on wild fish stocks. Our first speaker is E. Spencer Garrett III, AFPD distinguished lecturer from the NOAA Pascagoula Laboratory (MS), will speak about the global situation of capture fisheries, the importance of fishing rights to fishery management, and sustainability and its relation to global and domestic food supply. Charles Crapo will focus his presentation on sustainability and the responsible harvest of fish stocks in the United States, with remarks given to the role Alaska fisheries in the domestic and international arena. Joe Regenstein will focus his presentation on the how fisheries and aquaculture fits into the broader picture of sustainability—what fish can and cannot do to help improve the food supply.
Recommendations to enhance the FDA’s food safety program: An NAS report
Session 178, Monday, 1:30–3 p.m.
Room: S501ab
An ad-hoc committee of the National Research Council/Institute of Medicine (NRC/IOM) is charged with examining the gaps in public health protection provided by the farm-to-table food safety system under the purview of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and indentifying opportunities for improvement. The committee is evaluating the 2007 FDA Food Protection Plan, looking at its strengths and weaknesses, factors that may limit its achievement, and necessary revisions or additions. The NRC/IOM Committee members will present the report’s findings and recommendations on the enhancement of FDA’s tools and capacity to implement a comprehensive plan and assure a risk-based preventive system.