Improving Traceability

GFSF applauds new initiatives to introduce food safety tracing systems in the GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion).  It is much needed to redress the issue of a fragmented supply chain in cross border trades in the region.

http://foodindustry.asia/improving-the-gms-agri-food-system-the-role-of-traceability

Global Food Safety Standards: The Role that Partnerships can Play

Global Food Safety Standards: The Role that Partnerships can Play

By FIA Communications

on 05 Sep 2017

Global food safety standards like the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA) are designed to ensure safe food for all; it is the responsibility of all parties, including regulators and food and beverage industry players, to work in partnership to meet such standards. This was one of the key themes at the “Food Safety Training Summit: Growing Markets for High Quality Vietnamese Products” held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 28 August 2017.

The one-day conference, organised by the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF), brought together experts from the industry, as well as Vietnamese, global, and regional regulatory bodies, to discuss how Vietnamese food exports could meet global standards.

Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Vietnam's Minister of Health, addresses participants at the Food Safety Training Summit: Growing Markets for High Quality Vietnamese Products, on 28 August.

Delivering her keynote address at the event, Vietnam’s Minister of Health, Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, said that global standards such as the Foreign Supplier Verification Progammes of the FSMA have an impact on local exports to the United States. Dr Nguyen said while Vietnamese companies should study the impact of these standards in order that they can meet them, regulators and the different associations operating in Vietnam, such as the Vietnam High Quality Products Business Association, should support the industry to meet these requirements.

Mr Vu Van Tam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for Vietnam, said that it was important to improve communication flows on food safety, as well as the new standards between regulators and industry.

Ms Ratih Puspitasari, Director, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, Southeast Asia and India, Cargill, speaks at the training summit.

Speaking on behalf of the industry, Mr Steven Bartholomeusz, Director of Advocacy and Communications, Food Industry Asia, spoke on the role of the private sector in the development of regulatory standards. Mr Bartholomeusz emphasised the importance of partnerships and highlighted examples from the ASEAN region, where FIA has supported workshops on setting and reconciling standards.

“Capacity-building and information exchange through public-private partnerships are essential for effective implementation and better convergence of regulations,” he said.

Mr Rick Gilmore, Chairman of the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF) moderates a panel at the training summit.

Mr Rick Gilmore, Chairman of the GFSF, said that he was very pleased with the outcomes from the meeting.

“We are delighted that we could bring together Vietnam’s public and private sector to discuss how, by working in partnership, we might support local industry not only access markets in the USA, but also other global and regional markets.

The GFSF looks at developing of public-private partnerships and collaborative opportunities for risk minimisation in the food industry, and supports food safety strategies in Asian markets. In Vietnam, the GFSF works to assist food companies develop safety and quality in all food, seafood and feed products.
https://foodindustry.asia/global-food-safety-standards-the-role-that-partnerships-can-play

Global Food Safety Forum opens in Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam: Global food safety forum opens in Ho Chi Minh City

Source: VOV

• Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien told the global food safety forum in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday that Vietnam attaches importance to fine-tuning regulations on goods quality as the issue directly impacts human health and consumers’ interests.
• Tien said the Health Ministry wants to acquire feedback of international organisations, associations and businesses to adjust policies to meet importers’ food demand.
• Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Van Tung said the ministry is providing support for manufacturers to develop products meeting international standards, and serving as a bridge to facilitate their access to the State incentives.

Highlights from GFSF Vietnam

In case you weren't able to make it to Ho Chi Minh City, here are four highlights from our just concluded GFSF Vietnam Conference. Select presentations from the conference can also be found on this link: https://www.gfsfvietnam.org/presentations

·       Vincent Paez, Director of the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF) presented the various technologies that are used to detect and identify contaminants in the food supply. Paez offered insight into how these technologies have developed for the food testing laboratories and have started to make their way to the production site in a more portable form factor. Finally, Paez touched on the use of blockchain stored information as a potential solution to many food industry problems.

·       Janie Dubois, Laboratory Manager at JIFSAN, discussed foreign supplier requirements for the export of food and agricultural products to the United States. Dubois stressed that it is the importer’s responsibility to not only define supplier verification activities which they either perform or delegate to third parties, but also apply corrective actions in order to correct any problems.

·       Truong Lac, Lead Auditor at SGS, tackled the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and its implications for Vietnamese suppliers. Lac highlighted key supplier verification activities, including the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), a voluntary program for foreign suppliers which allows for expedited entry of food products into the United States. 

·       Ha Phuong Minh, Business Development Manager for Eurofins, presented on foreign supplier requirements for the export of food and agricultural products to the European Union. Minh pointed out that according to EU regulations, exporters are ultimately responsible for engaging the services of agricultural experts that can work with farmers to ensure that they are using the right pesticides. 

GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY FORUM (GFSF) OPENS FIRST FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT IN VIETNAM

 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Lorenzo.piccio@gicgroup.com

 

GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY FORUM (GFSF) OPENS FIRST FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT IN VIETNAM

 

Over 300 participants converged upon Ho Chi Minh City today as the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF) and its partners, AmCham/ Vietnam, HQVPBA (High Quality Vietnamese Products Business Association), and VTFA (Vietnam Trade Facilitation Alliance) opened their first food safety summit in Vietnam.

 

Speakers included government representatives from FAO, WHO, FDA (webcast), GFSP (Global Food Safety Partnership/ World Bank), Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology (Minister), Vietnam Food Administration (Deputy Director) and Vietnam Ministry of Health (Head/Food Safety Management Board-HCMC). Presenters from non-government institutions included MARD/IPSARD (Vietnam Institute of Strategy & Policy in Agriculture), JIFSAN (Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U. of Maryland), Food Industry Asia, GFSF (Director) and AmChamVietnam (HCMC Vice Chair).

 

Industry leaders on today’s roster included senior managers from Cargill, SGS, Thermo Fisher, Carrier-UTC, Eurofins, Bureau Veritas, and Minh Phu Seafood. Their panels addressed industry initiatives and compliance with FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act, US).

Cargill is the lead sponsor of the Summit, joined by Coca Cola, APL, Bureau Veritas, Carrier, Eurofins, Food Industry Asia, Global Cold Chain Alliance, JIFSAN (UM/FDA), Nutrifood, Thermo Fisher, SGS, US Grains Council, VinGroup, Vineco, and Vinamilk.

 

Rick Gilmore, Founder/Chairman of GFSF, in welcoming Summit delegates, said, “GFSF is delighted to join with its partners in introducing today the first private-public platform for food safety in Vietnam. We’re here to help develop and strengthen the Vietnam brand for food safety and quality in all Vietnamese food, seafood and feed products. And we’re here to assist the public sector in introducing policies and technologies that will ensure food safety compliance.”

 

The Summit addressed the problems Vietnam now faces in the catfish industry as well as in other markets to meet US and international regulatory compliance. Delegates are sharing their concerns and evaluating some of the solutions offered by the presenters. The Summit closed with an action program for 2017-18.

 

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GFSF in Food Industry Asia Online

Food Safety Training Summit: Growing Markets for High Quality Vietnamese Products – 28 August 2017, Vietnam
Organised by the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF), this year's conference, titled "Food Safety Training Summit: Growing Markets for High Quality Vietnamese Products", will bring together food safety officials, experts and specialists from the public sector, the private sector and international organisations to discuss challenges and opportunities in the global food safety arena, with a particular focus on the Vietnamese export market.

GFSF's Vince Paez Interviewed on Food Online

Vince Paez, a speaker at the GFSF Summit in Vietnam on Aug. 28, has an interview in Food Online today.  He focuses on technology challenges and accomplishments, including GFSF's work in blockchain applications.

How Novel Contamination Detection Methods Raise The Food Safety Bar

Source: Food Online

By Sam Lewis, associate editor
Follow Me On Twitter @SamIAmOnFood

Prevention of food contamination is a much more practical approach than testing every product in the supply chain. But, that doesn’t mean contamination testing technologies will ever be obsolete. Here, Vincent Paez, director of the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF), answers my questions about current and emerging methods and technological advancements helping to keep the global food supply safe. Paez will be speaking at the Global Food Safety Forum’s event: Food Safety Training Summit on Monday, August 28, 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Food Online: What are some of the major contamination issues the food industry is facing?
Paez: Contamination in food can be placed in five categories: microbiological (such as pathogens), chemical (such as pesticides), physical (such as bones), radiation (such as gamma), and ingredients (such as allergens). Most occurrences of contamination are microbiological in nature, followed by chemical. Sometimes contamination occurs intentionally, but mostly it is caused by someone in the food chain unintentionally cutting corners or making some change in their processes.
In the best-case scenario, contamination is caught early through testing at the food production stage. In the worst-case scenario, the food has reached the supermarket, has been purchased and eaten, and made the consumer ill or worse. The biggest challenge is that testing food is complex and expensive, requiring equipment with trained personnel. As a result, a very-small percentage of the world’s food is actually tested. For this reason, the world’s approach is risk-based, focusing on foods coming from areas with higher risks. Regardless, it is impossible to completely eliminate risk in the lengthy food chain, as there are too many opportunities for contamination from the farmer to the consumer.
Vietnam is primarily a seafood exporter, so the topics of our summit will discuss the contamination that occurs within the shrimp and fish sectors, such as pathogens and veterinary drug residues.

Food Online: How is industry working to fix those issues? Who is collaborating with industry on those solutions?
Paez: The food industry has realized that it’s simply not practical to throw seemingly-endless resources at food testing. Prevention is a much better approach with more standards and regulations focusing on hazard analysis (HACCP) and reviewing all food processes and handling practices so potential areas of contamination can be controlled.
Still, food testing will remain a critical part of the industry for some time. In recent years, providers of food testing technologies have focused on making the use of testing products easier, more affordable, and more reliable, so more people in the food industry can quickly test food before it goes on to the next stage of the food chain. For example, fast, real-time PCR has become more affordable and easier to use in recent years, enabling people in the food chain to more quickly identify pathogens, compared to traditional cultured media techniques. In the same way, chromatography and mass spectrometry have both become more accessible to food labs, so not just elite, well-funded labs have these technologies to accurately test for chemical contaminants, such as residual pesticides and antibiotics.
Near-infrared (NIR) technologies are becoming more common in food production lines to detect rocks, bones, and metal shavings which may have entered the food at some point.
Food Online: What are some current and emerging detection technologies fighting each type contamination? How will they improve food safety?
Paez: There are some really interesting technologies out there, and it seems that each one is designed to detect and design a particular contaminant. For example, ELISA kits are specifically designed to detect a particular allergen or pathogen, because it is immunoassay-specific. They are already easy to use and relatively inexpensive. So, to increase testing, suppliers of ELISA kits are developing great new automation products to handle many more samples per day. In the case of chemical detection, companies are developing smaller, more affordable, and more robust mass spectrometers, which used to be prohibitively expensive and difficult to use.
All of these technologies make searching for known expected contaminants, such as pathogens and pesticides, easier for the industry. But, what about unknown, unexpected contaminants, such as the melamine incident in China back in 2008? That is, what if there were an unexpected contaminant in the food sample and you were not using the right tool to look for it? The lab would miss it and the contamination would get further in the food chain. Today, some companies are working hard on Accurate Mass – Mass Spectrometry, which can detect all contaminants, even the unknown, unexpected ones. Finally, the adoption of more portable technologies, like Raman spectroscopy and easier Lateral Flow Devices make it easier to check for contamination closer to its source and preventing further waste of product and time.
So much data about food processing and food testing can be generated, but this data oftentimes does not effectively make it through the food chain. One of the most interesting developments is in the area of Blockchain technology, whereby a list of events and records could be securely stored or transferred to track the quality of food as it passes through the food chain. Blockchain methodology can preserve the integrity of the supply chain through immutable farm to fork ledgers and proof of provenance. GFSF has been working on the introduction of Blockchain-stored food safety information with ease of access for official surveillance and for insurance purposes.
Food Online: How quickly will these emerging technologies be available to food companies? What are the challenges of adopting those technologies?
Paez: I see rapid detection techniques in microbiology making enormous strides in reducing the analysis time from days to hours. The automation of ELISA kits is also being done very quickly. Making expensive instrumentation, which are capital expenses for the food labs, easier to use is much harder to do, because the suppliers are dealing with laws of physics and chemistry, as they look to miniaturize and make easier parts of the equipment. Making large chemical analysis equipment smaller and easier will take years, although we are starting to see advances.
The biggest challenge in most food testing is preparation of the sample. Waiting for bacteria to grow or following a lengthy pesticide extraction takes far more time than the detection step. The company that eventually eliminates or significantly decreases time spent on sample preparation will revolutionize the way food testing is done. But, again, that requires getting around the laws of bacterial growth and chemistry and is not an easy task.
About Vincent Paez
Vincent is the director of GFSF worldwide. He is an analytical chemist with an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA.  He previously has worked for Hewlett Packard/ Agilent Technologies where his responsibilities included serving as Asia Programs Manager; VP of Sales and Director of Food Safety Business Development at Thermo Fisher Scientific; and the former Senior Director of Food Safety, Environmental and Forensics Toxicology Testing Markets at SCIEX, responsible for bringing new mass spectrometry based solutions to these markets.
 https://www.foodonline.com/doc/how-novel-contamination-detection-methods-raise-the-food-safety-bar-0001