Food Protection Trends - December 2008 - 943

WhAT’S hAPPENING IN FOOD SAFETY The Rubber and Rubber-Like Materials standard will cover the material and serviceability requirements of rubber and rubber-like materials intended for multiple-use as product or solution contact surfaces in equipment used in the production, processing and handling of food and beverage products. Test procedures and criteria are provided for rubber materials as a means of determining their acceptance as to their ability to be cleaned and to receive effective bactericidal treatment or steam sterilization and to maintain their essential properties in these accelerated use-simulating conditions. This standard does not cover design and fabrication criteria for individual rubber or rubber-like components, because such criteria are provided for in other 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices. 3-A Standard 18-03, bearing the same title, will be used as the starting point for developing this new ANSI/3-A Standard. Those interested in participating in this activity should contact Nate Wall, 3-A SSI, at nwall@3-a.org or 703.790.0295, ext. 101. East Earth Herb. His specialty is purification, structural elucidation and biosynthesis of natural products from plants and microorganisms. Dr. He has authored over 20 peer-reviewed published papers on the subject of plant phytochemistry and analysis. These include an invited 35 page review paper for the Journal of Chromatography on HPLC-MS for studies of botanical extracts, and papers relating to the chemistry of Echinacea, Ginkgo, Kava and several medicinal mushrooms. to move on until they submit the correct answer). At present, the program is available in English and Spanish at www.hrtsonline.net. Presented in several sections, it can be completed with or without the pleasant voice-over narrative, and consists of legal responsibilities, personal hygiene, microbiology and illness, potentially hazardous foods, contamination and prevention of illness, time and temperature control, people most at risk from contaminated foods and food spoilage. Each section has a review and questions. Once completed, a confirmation is sent to the student, followed by a laminated wallet card and certificate in approximately seven business days, and is valid for 3 years from the date of completion. National Registry of Food Safety Professionals approved training program is accepted by the DBPR. Hotel and Restaurant Training Services® Launch Food Handler Online (First Principles) RTS, in collaboration with the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals, has just launched Food Handler Online (First Principles) food safety training and certification course which is 100% online. The materials have been developed with an international perspective, including sources in the UK, etc. People working with food in the US in states such as Florida must be trained in how to prepare, serve and store food safely within 60 days of commencing employment. Many owners and supervisors have been in violation of the states directive and the often used excuse to inspectors from the DBPR is, “I do not have time to train; I have a business to run.” HRTS® believes that to allow untrained people to work with food for up to 60 days, or even longer, is to say the least taking a risk with the safety of customers. This online program has bridged that gap in food safety training. Now, anybody who has access to a computer can take a comprehensive training course in food safety (First Principles), and can be tested on their knowledge by answering questions after each section (students are not permitted by the program h BioControl Acquires PickPen Business Unit from BioNobile Oy ioControl Systems, Inc. has acquired the PickPen® business unit from, BioNobile Oy, located in Turku, Finland. The acquisition encompasses all tangible and intangible assets of the PickPen business including all intellectual property. The PickPen business centers around a series of devices designed to transfer magnetic particles providing speed and flexibility in a wide variety of biological separation and purification applications. “We immediately recognized the PickPen’s significant advantages in speed, ease of use and improved particle recovery when we incorporated it into the sample preparation procedures for the Assurance GDS™ pathogen detection system,” says Phil Feldsine, BioControl Systems CEO. “The acquisition of the PickPen technology is an excellent compliment to our b Ethical Naturals Inc. Commissions New QC and R&D Lab with Renowned Phytochemist thical Naturals Inc., has recently commissioned their new quality control and research and development lab with Dr. Xianguo He as laboratory director. One of the earliest scientists to develop standardized extracts from botanicals in the US, Dr. He has a strong reputation in the botanical industry for his work in the field of phytochemistry, the chemistry of plants and their metabolic processes. In 1992, after three years as a visiting professor at the University of Washington, Dr. He began to work as laboratory director for E DECEMBER 2008 | FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS 943

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Food Protection Trends - December 2008

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