Dr. H. Scott Hurd, formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine and the Institute for Food Safety and Security at Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine, was appointed Deputy Under Secretary of USDA's Office of Food Safety in February 2008 by USDA Secretary Ed Schafer. Dr. Hurd held a September symposium at UC Davis on the roles of veterinarians in public health. Dr. Hurd's emphasis was that the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has many career opportunities for veterinary professionals willing to make a difference protecting public health in specialized food systems venues.

Dr. Hurd, who manages all meat and poultry inspection in the U.S. with over 10,000 employees, emphasized to the students that protecting the nation's meat and poultry supply is a unique role for the veterinarian. He stated "the PHVs (public health veterinarians) use their expertise in medicine, hygiene and microbiology for a variety of responsibilities such as human handling assurance, ante and post mortem health assessments and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) systems analysis." Dr. Hurd is scheduled to give a repeat seminar at UC Davis Valley Hall on December 2, 2008 from noon to 1PM.

For more information about FSIS job opportunities, call 1-800-370-3747, ext. 2820, or visit www.foodsafetyjobs.gov.
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WIFSS facilitates the Emergency Animal Disposal Workgroup (EADW), a unique collaboration of academic, industry and regulatory stakeholders addressing the current and long-term needs related to livestock mortality disposal. Part of the EADW's efforts includes examining the potential use of compost to dispose of animal mortalities during emergencies. On September 30th, new compost piles were created starting the next set of experiments examining pathogen reduction of spore-forming bacteria, fluid waste generation/groundwater protection and air emissions. Establishing the compost piles was a remarkable example of inter-agency and university collaboration. Working in 95-degree heat in an empty dairy lagoon, members from half a dozen academic and regulatory organizations worked side-by-side doing physically demanding tasks. Carol Collar, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension, and Paul Rossitto, Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC), were the primary site organizers. The California Department of Food and Agriculture's Melanie Swartz, Tulare District Veterinarian-in-Charge, and Theresa Paulmann went to great lengths to locate and transport donated carcasses. Kings County Ag Commissioner Tim Niswander represented the Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association and many of his staff were present to lend a hand. Steve Sherman from California Polytechnic State University also provided intellectual and physical assistance. Additional thanks to VMTRC's staff Manny Parriera and David Irvine for operating the heavy equipment and local dairy producers who donated the cows, manure and silage covers used as pile ground liners. For more information, please contact Dr. Payne.
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In mid-September, the Consulate General of Canada (San Francisco-Silicon Valley), the California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research and the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (WIFSS) held the Canada-California Food Safety Roundtable, which was moderated by Dr. Linda J. Harris. There were three main issues discussed at the Roundtable. The first issue, presented by Philip H. Amundson, executive director of Western Operations of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, went over topics such as the measures currently in place for cross-border inspections and how they compare with U.S. border inspections. The second issue, presented by James F. Lefort (M.Sc.), the Director of Operations at BC Hot House Foods, Inc., included what is BC Hot House and their primary export market and how the industry has adapted to new food safety programs implemented in the past two years. The third issue, presented by Daniel A. Sumner of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center and Professor of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Davis, included how the U.S. has dealt with import and food safety issues in the face of ongoing BSE concerns in Canada and whether or not food safety and traceability concerns place special burdens on trade with Canada. Also in attendance at the Roundtable were Dr. Michele Jay-Russell, WIFSS, and Bonnie Fernandez, UC Davis Center for Produce Safety. For more information, please contact Dr. Harris.
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Approximately every two years the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) sponsors the Animal Agriculture Coordinating Conference. The purpose of the conference is to establish connections between campus and county-based ANR and to explore collaborations for research and extension programming. This year's program, themed Megatrends in Animal Agriculture: What will animal agriculture look like in 2025?, was kicked off with a presentation by Dr. Lutz Goedde from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Goedde's presentation discussed the current status of the world food supply and the Gates Foundation's interest in animal agriculture. Other presentations from industry included: Global Trends in Animal Agriculture, from Bank of America's Corny Gallagher, Trends Transforming Animal Care in America, from the California Farm Bureau Federation's Ria deGrassi and Retailers Insights to Animal Agriculture, from Raley's Vice President Perishables, Dewey Maroney. Click here to view the videotaped presentations of the conference. WIFSS' Dr. Payne was a member of the coordinating committee and Dean Bennie Osburn, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, also presented. For additional information, please contact Dr. Payne.
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WIFSS' Dr. Michele Jay-Russell was invited to participate in a one-day retreat sponsored by the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) in the Napa Valley. The WCAHS is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program dedicated to the understanding and prevention of illness and injury in Western agriculture. The WCAHS was established for the purpose of protecting and improving the health and safety of the nation's farmers, farmworkers, and consumers.

One goal of the retreat was to explore the interface between farmworker health and food safety, and discuss potential areas of collaboration between the research groups. As background for the discussion, Dr. Jay-Russell gave a presentation on WIFSS' collaborative research and outreach activities. She also shared the Do's and Don'ts of Dairy Manure Management tri-fold poster brochure developed by WIFSS for dairy producers in summer 2008, which was seen as an excellent educational tool for farmworkers.

As a result of the meeting, Drs. Jay-Russell and Marc Schenker (Director, WCAHS) submitted a grant pre-proposal entitled "Food Safety Perceptions and Practices among Farmworkers in the Leafy Green Industry in California." News on whether we are invited to submit a full proposal is expected at the end of the month.

To view a copy of the event agenda, click here, or to view a copy of the Award program, click here. For further information, please contact Dr. Jay-Russell.
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UC Davis WIFSS' Drs. Mike Payne and Rob Atwill both gave presentations at the Pacific Southwest Organic Residuals Symposium. Their panel, which also included talks by Michael Brautovich, Earthbound Farms; Dr. Dave Crohn, University of California at Riverside; and Paul Robins, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County focused on emerging pathogen issues relative to the use of manure in the leafy green production environment. For more information, please contact Dr. Atwill.
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WIFSS' Director, Dr. Rob Atwill, gave an update on how teams of faculty at WIFSS, UC Davis and the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) are working together on a variety of pre-harvest food safety issues to members of the UC President's Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources in Berkeley, CA. Discussion surrounding the issue of leafy green production and food safety were quite lively both during the meeting and afterwards at dinner. For more information, please contact Dr. Atwill.
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WIFSS' Dr. Michele Jay-Russell attended the third International Conference on Food Safety and Quality organized by FoodHACCP.com in south San Francisco. The conference brought together an outstanding group of expert Keynote speakers and participants. The San Francisco Bay also offered some exceptionally beautiful weather for visitors that traveled from across the US and other countries including Korea and Mexico. Examples of the dynamic range of topics covered included: rapid microbiological methods in food safety/quality; emerging issues in food contamination litigation to safety of ethnic and imported foods; food industry response to outbreaks; and many others. Click here to view the full program.

FoodHACCP.com is a food safety and quality information website (available in 7 languages) established in 1999 with more than 11,000 members worldwide. "Food Safety Assurance for Food Industries" is the theme for their next international conference, which will be held on November 3-4, 2009 in Redondo Beach, CA. For more information, please contact Dr. Jay-Russell.
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Lead paint in toys, diethylene glycol in toothpaste, melamine in pet food, antibiotics in farm-raised seafood, counterfeit blood thinners... These consumer scandals have raised significant concerns for the safety of imported products from China and were the topic of UC Berkeley's 2008 Travers Conference on Ethics and Accountability in Government entitled Holding China Accountable? Strategies for Protecting Consumers in a Globalized World. The conference investigated the risks to American consumers in using Chinese products, the capacity of the U.S. regulatory system and strategies for strengthening Chinese and American consumer protection. The diverse group of panelists included representatives from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, California Department of Justice, Oriental Food Association and numerous universities. WIFSS' Dr. Payne was a panel member for the review of food safety aspects of imported foods. For additional information, please contact Dr. Payne.
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