Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020 - 6

COMMENTARY
FROM YOUR PRESIDENT

Kalmia Kniel

Happy New Year! Do you ring in
the New Year with specific traditions?
Perhaps you sing "Auld Lang Syne"
to greet the New Year and eat blackeyed peas for good luck. Around the
world, cultures welcome the change
of the calendar with unique New
Year's traditions and many of those
include delicious foods. And then
there is perhaps the most popular tradition of making resolutions.
Or is that tradition really the breaking of resolutions? Funny how
those resolutions may also involve food. How ever you choose to
celebrate the welcoming of 2020, I wish you a Happy New Year!
I find it difficult to believe that we are already at the year
2020 (MMXX). This year is a leap year, the 20th year of the
21st century, and the first year of the 2020s decade. And as we
welcome the start to a New Year, we say good-bye and close the
door on the last. In 2019, scientists continued to strive for critical
advancements in communicating food safety messages; including
antimicrobial use, safe food handling practices, product labeling,
and use of thermometers, and of course science continues the
struggle concerning the importance of vaccination. And in our
world of Food Safety, 2019 witnessed outbreaks associated with
familiar commodities like lettuce, berries, herbs, fish, meats, and

FROM YOUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Recently, I participated in a discussion around the topic of "Rejection
of Expertise." It was interesting to see
how the evolution of the information
age and the easy, 24-hour access to
news and information that we now
enjoy have led to less of a reliance
on "expertise" in science and other
areas. This has caused the public to
have doubts about science, to doubt doctors, to trust social media
and the Internet; all while we experience an erosion of trust in the
media and lessening of our attention spans.
As we begin this new decade of 2020, we should all work to
establish fact-based science as a platform to build upon this year
and into the future. Associations and peer-reviewed journals can
be seen as a source for this much-needed expertise. We can lead the
efforts for promoting expertise in conversations, in media and in
policy. We encourage you to help change the dialogue in the New
Year!
On another topic, each year at this time we share the financial
outcome for our fiscal year. Our year ended August 31, 2019 and an
abbreviated financial report is shown on page 71. The Statement of

Food Protection Trends January/February

flour, among others. While there may have been fewer outbreaks
by number in 2019 compared to 2018, the threat to our food
supply remains real and our IAFP Members around the globe are
fighting battles to protect the food supply worldwide each and
every day of the year.
As we each begin new projects in this New Year, I reflect on an
incredible part of our IAFP culture, which is the balance between
academia, government and industry. This balance ensures
that IAFP looks at issues from our unique multidisciplinary
perspectives. We maintain this balance on the Executive Board
and on several committees within IAFP. I continuously benefit
from the viewpoints of my peers as our team makes decisions on
new awards and continuing development within our publications.
Speaking of these outstanding scientific publications, I hope you
will make room in your busy schedules this 2020 to read the IAFP
Report in your email, the table of contents of the Journal of Food
Protection (JFP) or download the FPT app on your mobile device
and read Food Protection Trends (FPT) while you wait at the
airport, in line at a restaurant, while working on other resolutions
on the treadmill, or while sitting at the soccer field (happens to
be where I read mine quite often). Developing a closer tie to a
professional association like IAFP is a worthy resolution for 2020,
and one I bet you can keep! I will look for my IAFP Report right
now and wish you all a year filled with success, contentment, and
continued growth in the areas of food safety and food security.

David W. Tharp
Activity for IAFP's General Fund shows revenues of $4,145 million
and expense of $4.073 million with an excess of $72,000 for the
year's activities. Thus, our year-end Net Assets (at August 31, 2019)
in the General Fund were roughly $3,446,000. The Association
is in a very sound financial position.
Financial success of IAFP's Annual Meeting helps to support
the Association's on-going activities and has allowed IAFP to grow
substantially in recent years. This year was no exception. These
successes have enabled IAFP to become active in a number of
meetings outside of North America, which brings more attendees
to IAFP's Annual Meeting each year; thus increasing the worldwide network of food safety professionals.
The IAFP Foundation also completed a successful financial year
and added $47,000 to its net assets bringing the year-end total to
$2,059,000. We attracted more than $190,000 in contributions
from IAFP Members and Sustaining Members in FYE 2019. This
means the Foundation can now support additional activities which
will further IAFP's food safety efforts. Fundraising efforts will
continue so we can expand the IAFP Foundation's programs and
influence.
Now that January has arrived, we will set our sights on 2020
while beginning our work towards new successes. Our best wishes
to you, your family and your colleagues for a Happy, Successful and
Healthy 2020!

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020

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