News

Wishing you all the joy and warmest wishes for this holiday season.

Sincerely,

The BC Food Protection Association Executive Board

2017 November FSMA Full Day Workshop
Introduction to FSMA: Preventive Controls for Human Food and What You Should Know

Featured FSMA Trainers:
Claudia Coles & Jovana Kovacevic

November 9, 2017

Langara Clubhouse
6706 Alberta Street, Vancouver, BC

Complimentary Parking Available

Visit our website to register and for more information www.bcfoodprotection.ca

Workshop Description & Speaker Bios: Click here

Register by Oct 26 to take advantage of our early bird rate!
Full Day Event: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Schedule:
8:30 – 9:00 AM    Registration
9:00 – 10:15 AM    Overview of FSMA - Jovana Kovacevic
10:15 - 10:30 AM Nutrition Break
10:30 - 11:30 AM Brief Introduction to Produce Safety Rule - Jovana Kovacevic
11:30 - 12:00 PM Agricultural Water in British Columbia: What do we test for and what do we know about the quality? - Justin Falardeau
12:00 - 1:00 PM    Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 PM    Introduction to Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule - Claudia Coles
1:30 - 2:45 PM    The Future of Food Safety and FSMA - Claudia Coles
2:45 - 3:00 PM    Nutrition Break
3:00 - 4:00 PM    What you should know about the Foreign Supplier Verification Program Rule - Claudia Coles
After 4:30 PM    Networking

Register today! Early bird registration ends October 26th.

https://bcfoodprotection.wildapricot.org/event-2689338

The Fall IAFP Affiliate View is out!

The IAFP invites you to review the latest edition of Affiliate View, IAFP’s newsletter for and about our 55 Affiliates around the world. Affiliate View dedicates itself to the professionals working to advance food safety in their geographical region. Each quarterly issue is a valuable source of information that includes a column from the current Affiliate Council Chair, summaries of recent Affiliate meetings, information about upcoming events, and news about IAFP programs and services.

https://www.foodprotection.org/upl/downloads/publications/affiliates-view/fall%202017.pdf

Join IAFP today - https://www.foodprotection.org/

We recognize it takes a combination of both hard work and educational funding for most students to achieve their goal of a post-secondary education. That's why we've developed a scholarship fund to help encourage student funding and interest in food protection in BC.

For 2017, two scholarships will be available in the amounts of $1500 and $1000 and will be awarded to two BCFPA student members who meet the criteria. Students selected to receive scholarship awards must attend a future BCFPA event to receive the Scholarship Award Certificate. It is intended that the 2017 Scholarship Awards will be presented at our Annual General Meeting in January 2018.

To be considered for the scholarship awards, please fill out the application form and email your application and essay to the BCFPA Vice President at justin.falardeau@ubc.ca . Applications must be submitted no later than November 30, 2017.

The Scholarship Poster is available here.

This year's topics:

1. Food Safety Within Sustainable Food Production
2. How FSMA may affect Canadian Food Production
3. Chemical Hazards in Agri-Food Products

Details of the scholarship criteria and requirements can be found under our Scholarship page here: http://www.bcfoodprotection.ca/Scholarships

Early bird registration for the 83rd CIPHI Annual Education Conference, including the Group Rate, will end on October 7, 2017. Do not miss this opportunity to explore innovative ways to safeguard public health with other environmental public health professionals in Canada. Check out our conference program here for details.

Early bird registrants will be automatically entered to win 1 of 10 CIPHI BC gift packs. Register today!

Poster

For conference registration, please follow the link below:
https://ciphi2017annualeducationconference.eventsmart.com/events/ciphi-2017-annual-education-conference/

IAFP is seeking a Scientific Co-Editor for the Journal of Food Protection (JFP), to begin January 2, 2018. Among the many duties, this position will work closely with IAFP editorial staff to manage the peer-review process of submitted manuscripts for publication in JFP and will serve as an intermediary between manuscript reviewers and authors. Applicants may forward a letter of interest and C.V. by Tuesday, September 12, 2017, to Sean Leighton, Selection Committee Chair, c/o David Tharp, dtharp@foodprotection.org. For more information about this position, go here: http://www.foodprotection.org/publications/journal-of-food-protection/

Nominations are open for candidates from the industry sector to serve as IAFP Secretary during 2018–2019. This position serves a five-year term on the IAFP Executive Board. Nominators may forward a letter of nomination and a biographical sketch to Ian Jenson, Nominating Committee Chair, c/o David Tharp, at dtharp@foodprotection.org. The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, September 26, 2017.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 is the deadline for symposium, roundtable, and workshop proposals for IAFP 2018. Next year’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for July 8–11 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The deadline for IAFP 2018’s call for abstracts is Tuesday, January 16, 2018. No late submissions will be accepted. For more information on IAFP 2018 submissions, go here: https://www.foodprotection.org/annualmeeting/

Dear All,

This email is to inform you that Health Canada will be hosting an all-day meeting with stakeholders and experts on front-of-package food (FOP) labelling on Monday, September 18th from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. In line with Health Canada’s commitment to open and transparent government, we are inviting you to attend via live streaming.  There will be a limited opportunity for online participants to submit questions to contribute to the discussion.

The goal of the meeting is to bring together experts, industry and health stakeholders to share and review the evidence related to FOP labelling, including the public health context, consumer research, and international experiences.

Health Canada will have a professionally facilitated discussion about FOP symbol options at the meeting. These discussions will help inform the development of the regulatory proposal for FOP.

Please find attached the draft agenda.

If you are interested in registering for this meeting, please click on the following link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/health-canadas-front-of-pack-labelling-stakeholder-engagement-meetingrencontre-de-mobilisation-des-tickets-37486066835
 
Please note that registration ends on September 13, 2017.

If you are interested in participating in future stakeholder engagement and consultations at Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, please feel free to register in the Consultation and Stakeholder Information Management System (CSIMS). You will receive an email notification when there is an upcoming engagement or consultation opportunity in the area(s) of interest you selected during registration.

It is with a heavy heart I pass along news of the passing of our colleague and dear friend Karen Catherwood.  Karen passed on September 5th just after 6:30 pm at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, BC.

Karen had been fighting to recover from a stroke, and multiple complications requiring continual kidney dialysis.  Karen's sister Sue was with her as her soul escaped.

Karen was a respected microbiologist always willing to share her knowledge.  She was a talented porcelain painter, cook/baker, gardener and floral arranger.  Karen loved a good joke or story and for those who worked closely with her, we will always remember her amazing laughter resounding through the building.

I have tried to forward this message along to many of her former colleagues at Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and some of her microbiology contacts for whom I have contact information.  Please share with those of your contacts particuarly those who would have know Karen through her work.  I will endeavour to provide further details of any service as available.

Sincerely,
Lance Hill

Date:  Monday September 11, 2017
Time:  1 – 4 pm
Place:  6839 Copper Cove Road, West Vancouver (Karen’s Home)
Finger food, tea, coffee, wine
For those planning on attending please RSVP to Susan Catherwood:
(scatherwood@emulogix.com)

Dear BCFPA Members,

We would like to thank you for attending our our Spring Spring Speaker's Evening held on Wednesday, May 31, 2017.

In our continued effort for improvement and to bring seminars and events that our interesting to our members, we ask that you take a few minutes to complete our Survey.

We also ask that those who did not attend also complete the Survey.

Click here to begin the Survey: https://drive.google.com/open?id=19ZxBF682RL_7H6VwtxgDm1Hm3cUWk3tNe2mn9D0EgXQ

We plan on organizing an event in the fall and would like your input. Please click on the survey and answer the questions, especially near the end. Your input on future topics and speakers are greatly appreciated!

Hello students,

I am just passing along some information regarding a student scholarship that may be of interest to you (or someone you know who is also a student)! Please pass along this to any student who may be interested in this, thank you!

This is the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation (CALA) student scholarship. It is a scholarship for students who have some experience working in a CALA lab.

Deadline: Aug 4, 2017

Details in the link below:
http://cala.ca/awards.html#scholarships

http://cala.ca/17student_award_nominations.pdf