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Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
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Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
Congressional and Public Affairs
Matt Baun
(202) 720-9113
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2002-- The U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today that it will hold a public symposium on food safety on May 6-7 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Titled, Pathogen Reduction: A Scientific Dialogue, the symposium will bring together leading experts from government and academia to discuss scientific data and issues associated with pathogen reduction and HACCP.
This symposium is one of a series of public meetings being held to discuss new approaches for improving food safety in a HACCP environment. Pathogen Reduction: A Scientific Dialogue aims to stimulate thinking and generate new ideas towards the goal of enhancing the safety of meat, poultry and egg products.
"Under the Pathogen Reduction/HACCP program, FSIS has made considerable progress in reducing pathogens on raw meat and poultry," said Under Secretary for Food Safety Elsa Murano. "But there is more work that needs to be done and we have a tremendous opportunity to take food safety to the next level. This will require expanding on FSIS’ farm-to-table approach to food safety by making decisions using the best available science and validated new technologies."
The symposium will focus on analysis and discussion of microbial testing, anti-microbial interventions, performance standards, and other pathogen reduction inspection activities. Panels chaired by members of the academic scientific community will address questions such as how pathogens enter the food chain, options for constructing statistically sound performance sampling strategies, new trends in microbiology and microbial ecology, and new technologies to remove or inactivate pathogens on carcasses.
The symposium will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Monday and Tuesday May 6-7, at the Georgetown University Conference Center, 3800 Reservoir Rd., NW, Washington, DC. Those requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations should contact Sheila Johnson of the FSIS Planning Staff at (202) 690-6498. For a draft agenda and program information please visit FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov.
The notice for the public meeting will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 22. FSIS will accept comments on the topics to be discussed at the public meeting. All comments should be submitted to: FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket #01-020N, 102 Cotton Annex, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
For Further Information, Contact:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-9113
Fax: (202) 690-0460