News

Allergens – How low is low enough?

Are you asking yourself the question what is the limit of detection needed. People ask me how low is low enough. When you are cleaning to remove allergens you need to know when you are done cleaning. The answer like many in food safety is, it depends. A thorough review of the risks is an important starting point.
You are trying to ensure that you do not have enough allergen left on your equipment that would carry over to a new production run of a product that does not have that allergen. This could cause an allergic response in an unwary consumer.
The method of confirming the cleaning is adequate varies. Some document on a checklist that the surfaces were visually clean. Some swab cleaned surfaces on some frequency and test the swab. Others capture part of the following production run or a rinse solution and test that material. The tests are done using various test methods to determine if the target allergen is present either directly through antibody/dna testing or indirectly through general protein or ATP testing.
So how low is low enough will depend on what your risk is of a allergen cross-contact causing a consumer to have a response. There is work by the FDA and WHO on creating guidance to help as well as some other industry guidelines that may be specific to the products you make.

New Committee Poll

Come vote on whether or not we should create a student committee within MFPA to better represent the needs of our student members.

This poll is no longer accepting votes

Do we need a student committee that focuses on engaging student MFPA members?
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Fall 2019 Meeting Update

Thank you to those that were able to make the meeting.

We heard from our new President Gregory Danzeisen on the state of MFPA and a review of the Affiliate Meeting held this last summer at the IAFP annual meeting.

Polly Courtney also provided an update on the current health of our membership and financial position. We remain in a good position and look forward to doing more with our organization.

We discussed ideas for upcoming awards and meetings. In order to get as much feedback as possible, we will be creating a survey to send to our members. So please watch for the survey when it comes to your email.

Fall-2019-MFPA-Meeting-NotesDownload

MFPA Fall Meeting

November 12th, 2019

5:30 – 7:30 PM

Location

Department of Food Science and Nutrition

Room 15, 1334 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN

University of Minnesota

Pizza, Ice Cream (From the Food Science Department), and beverages will be served!

Agenda

  • Recognize and introduce new attendees
  • Treasurers report
  • Dedicated networking time
  • Guest speaker

Directions

The room is in the basement, as you come into the main entrance of the building just take the stairs down and the entrance to the room will be immediately at your right. This is a seminar-type room where we hold a good number of our courses.
There is a parking lot just in front of the building with entrance by Commonwealth Ave. and there are parking meters on the street. If you need any more directions please see: http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/FScN

MFPA Meeting February 14th, 2019

Shakopee Brewery and Brewhall
124 First Avenue East
Shakopee, MN 55379
(952) 582-4292

Beer pints will be purchasable throughout the event.


Event Agenda:
5:30 – Social and food will be provided
6:00 – Brewery tours & live music by David Baumler
6:30 – Social
7:00 – Business meeting
7:30-8:30 – Presentation Invited Speaker

Dr. Alireza Abbaspourrad
“Discoveries in Structural Emulsions, Ingredients, and Encapsulation Technologies”

Yongkeun Joh Assistant Professor of Food Chemistry and Ingredient Technology
Dept. of Food Science
Cornell University ff

MFPA Meeting November 6, 2018

 

Beer pints and root beer will be purchasable for $3 throughout the meeting at Summit Brewery.

Event Agenda:

5:15: check in open, bring a business card to drop in raffle bucket,  check in and get wristband and name tag for admission

5:30-8:30 food and ice cream all prepaid for all attendees

5:30 – Social & student poster session on non-thermal technologies
6:00 – Brewery Tours & David Baumler will perform live music during this time in the Ratskellar Beer Hall (lyrical sheets for some traditional beer drinking songs will be provided for all to sing along).
6:30 – Social & student poster session on non-thermal technologies
7:00 – Business meeting
7:30-8:30 Presentations (each 15 minutes)
#1) “New Technologies for Powdered foods and Ingredients Treatment after drying” – Justin Wiertzema (PhD candidate University of Minnesota)
#2) “Overview of Pulsed UV Light in Food Sterilization and Equipment Decontamination”
#3) “Intense Pulsed Light Center of Excellence to Reduce Pathogens and Spores in Dry Powdered foods at the University of Minnesota” – David Baumler (Assistant Professor of Molecular Food Microbiology and Safety)
#4)”How to Deal with Spores from Botanicals and Non-Traditional Ingredients” – Tony Erickson (Ecolab)
(done by 8:30-9:00 PM)

MFPA Meeting – 2016 November 17

Please just a reminder that our next meeting is this Thursday November 17th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition building (Room 15, 1334 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108).
Please RSVP through the following link:
https://goo.gl/forms/Ujv6sqQM6Jmnp8AA3

Directions:
The room is in the basement, as you come into the main entrance of the building just take the stairs down and the entrance to the room will be immediately at your right. This is a seminar-type room where we hold a good number of our courses.
There is a parking lot just in front of the building with entrance by Commonwealth Ave. and there are parking meters on the street. If you need any more directions please see: http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/FScN/