Food Protection Trends - November/December 2023 - 555

discussed. The minutes from the previous meeting,
held on July 31, 2022, were reviewed and approved.
New Business: An update from the IAFP Board
liaison was provided by the chairperson of Food Laws
PDG. For the updates, real-time updates to the IAFP
app were emphasized, a video on diversity, equity,
and inclusion was mentioned, and attendees were
encouraged to watch it, the free webinar initiated
by IAFP was discussed, attendees were informed
about the need for mentors in IAFP for IAFP mentor
match program, and those interested in volunteering
for committee work were instructed to update their
settings in IAFP Connect, providing information on
volunteer activities and professional details.
Updates on IAFP SPDG were provided which
included encouragement to join the attendees
as invited scientists for " Meet Your Fav Scientist "
program, invitation to volunteer as judges for the
3MT competition, and request to attendees to submit
proposals and to consider the Student PDG as a
session co-sponsor.
Ideas for the 2024 IAFP Annual Meeting Symposia,
Roundtables, and Workshops were discussed.
The ideas suggested and discussed included:
understanding food allergen labeling and compliance
with cGMP, international differences in food labeling
requirements, novel food ingredients and their impact
on labeling and compliance, regulatory responsibilities
of different global bodies and their implications for
education and industry, identifying deficiencies in
students' knowledge of laws and regulations potentially
through surveys, assessing residual risks in food
safety and the need for continued risk management,
and data sharing platforms for food safety with a focus
on anonymity. The suggestion of conducting a webinar
series was put forward, and it was unanimously
accepted by all attendees. The proposed webinar
series would focus on various topics, starting with
" Back to the Basics " and continuing with subjects such
as jurisdiction, international challenges in labeling,
allergen control, transportation safety laws, and
traceability.
Recommendations to the Executive Board:
1. The mission statement of the Food Laws
PDG was revisited, and a recommendation was
made to the Board to add the term " risk " before
" scientific issue. "
Next Meeting Date: July 14, 2024, Long Beach,
California.
Meeting Adjourned: 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time,
Sunday, July 16, 2023.
Chairperson: Melanie Neumann.
Food Packaging PDG
Attendees: Tony, Jin (Chair), Akbar Bahrami, Brita
Ball, Mariella Bustamante, Linyun Chen, Chia-Yang
Chen, Guillaume Blanchet-Chouinard, Vanessa
Cranford, Sebastian Cranford, Aakankshya Dhakal,
Erin Ducko, Aaron Dudley, Sanjit Fernandes, Tony
Flood, Baback Gharizadeh, Rebecca Hardeman,
Amanda Martin Jones, Layal Karam, Karen
Leacock, Naeem Mady, Todd Masche, Anne-Marie
Masella, Rocio Nunez, Neal Saab, Elisa Guardado
Servellon, Tracie Sheehan, Katherine Sierra, Sarah
Smith-Simpson, Jacqueline Southee, Andrew
Stephens, Helen Taylor, Evelyn Watts, Yidan Zhang.
Board/Staff Present: Timothy Jackson
Number of Attendees: 33.
Meeting Called to Order: Sunday, 3:15 p.m., July
26, 2023.
Minutes Recording Secretary: Aakankshya Dhakal.
The meeting of the Food Packaging PDG was called
to order, and all attendees were welcomed by PDG
Chair, Tony Jin.
Vice-Chair Tania Martinez was not able to attend the
meeting due to personal reasons.
Old Business: Minutes from the last meeting
held on June 30, 2022 are available at https://
www.foodprotection.org/get-involved/professionaldevelopment-groups/food-packaging.
No members
objected to the acceptance of the meeting minutes.
An IAFP Board Liaison provided an IAFP update.
Attendees were encouraged to download and update
the IAFP Meeting app, report any technical issues
to IAFP, and engage with the inclusion and diversity
team. Timothy also highlighted the availability of
testimony in the app and the success of a webinar
during Food Safety Month. He mentioned the
profile section in the app's career opportunity box
and encouraged members to update their profiles.
Other announcements included the Journal of Food
Protection (JFP) being made open access.
Student PDG update was provided by Aakankshya
Dhakal.
Chair Tony Jin highlighted the importance of IAFP
Connect, the online community for the Food Packaging
PDG. It was emphasized that IAFP Connect serves
as the sole means of communication among PDG
members. Attendees were provided information about
IAFP Connect, including instructions on how to log
in and access the community. It was noted that this
information would be shared again in the meeting
minutes for reference.
A special guest presentation was delivered by
Andrew Stephens, Senior Policy Advisor at the USDA.
The presentation focused on " Emerging Trends in
Single Use Plastics and Sustainable Packaging
Regulations. " Several key points were discussed,
including the importance of reusable packaging,
concerns about landfill waste in the USA, sorting
plastic by brand to draw attention to its impact,
the carbon footprint of single-use plastics, and the
influence of beach surveys in raising awareness. The
November/December Food Protection Trends 555
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Food Protection Trends - November/December 2023

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