Special Activities at The Arkansas Oklahoma IAFP Chapters Joint Conference

Register at the link below for Activities at The Arkansas Oklahoma IAFP Chapters Joint Conference that will be held on Tues-Thurs September 24-26, 2024 on the beautiful Square in Fayetteville.

Conferences - 2024 — Arkansas Association for Food Protection (arkafp.org)

Please review the link below for details of the Lunch & Learn event provided by Weber Scientific and Kikkoman during our Fall conference September 24-26.

Lunch & Learn by Weber Scientific + Kikkoman Biochemifa — Arkansas Association for Food Protection (arkafp.org)

The Arkansas Association for Food Protection (AAFP) was honored with the Best Overall Affiliate Meeting Award by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) for the AAFP 15th Annual Meeting held in the fall of 2023.

Lunch & Learn by Weber Scientific + Kikkoman Biochemifa

Please review the details of the Lunch & Learn event provided by Weber Scientific and Kikkoman during our Fall conference September 24-26.  You will learn to enhance your food safety protocols with Kikkoman Easy Plate, the game-changing microbiological testing solution for the meat and poultry industry. With its ready-to-use plates, validated accuracy, and cost-effective efficiency, Easy Plate delivers reliable results, reduces waste, and boosts operational efficiency.

DETAILS:

Presenter: Alissa Shida (Overseas Hygiene Monitoring Testing Group, Regional Manager, Kikkoman Biochemifa Company)

Overview: Kikkoman Easy Plate: Revolutionizing Microbiological Testing

Microbiological testing is crucial for ensuring food safety in the meat and poultry industry.

Traditional methods can be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly.

Kikkoman Easy Plate offers a solution designed to streamline your testing processes, enhance efficiency, and maintain the highest standards of safety.

What is Easy Plate?

Kikkoman Easy Plate is a convenient, prepared media plate that simplifies microbiological testing.

Using a time-tested and AOAC validated culture media methodology, Easy Plate ensures reliable and accurate results.

Key Features and Benefits:

Easy-to-Use: Ready-to-use plates eliminate the need for media preparation, saving valuable time and labor.

Space-Saving: Stackable film plate format reduces storage requirements and frees up lab space.

Waste Reduction: Pre-prepared plates minimize waste associated with traditional media preparation.

Streamlined Testing: Each Easy Plate is designed for specific target organisms, ensuring targeted and efficient testing.

Specialized Testing Options:

Kikkoman Easy Plate offers specialized plates for various target organisms.

Aerobic Bacteria (AC)

Coliforms (CC)

E. coli/Coliforms (EC)

Staphylococcus aureus (SA)

Yeast and Mold (YM-R)

Enterobacteriaceae (EB)

Why Choose Kikkoman Easy Plate?

Validated Methodology: AOAC validated, ensuring reliable and accurate results.

Cost-Effective: Reduces costs associated with media preparation, labor, and waste disposal.

Efficiency: Speeds up the testing process, allowing for quicker decision-making and improved food safety management.

Kikkoman Easy Plate is designed to meet the specific needs of the meat and poultry industry, ensuring safety, efficiency, and cost savings.

Upgrade your microbiological testing process with Easy Plate and experience the benefits firsthand.

Enhance your microbiological testing today with Kikkoman Easy Plate – where convenience meets reliability

Easy Plate on Kikkoman’s web page - https://biochemifa.kikkoman.com/e/products/detail/?id=13240

Easy Plate on Weber Scientific’s web page - https://www.weberscientific.com/easy-plate-prepared-media-plates

***We will provide more information about registration soon.

Arkansas + Oklahoma IAFP Annual Conference Agenda + Speaker Update

The Arkansas + Oklahoma IAFP Regional Conference is excited to update you on some of our confirmed speakers.

Unlock the future of food safety and regulatory compliance at our upcoming annual meeting featuring insightful sessions led by industry and regulatory leaders.   Our Keynote Speaker is Dan Fone, Vice President Food Safety, Quality & Sanitation at Dollar Tree Stores and former Senior Director II of US Food Safety at Walmart.  Our IAFP Speaker is Dr. Tim Jackson, FDA Senior Science Advisor for Food Safety.

In the Food Safety Leadership session, speakers such as Melody Ge, former Director, Quality Assurance and Food Safety at StarKist Co and Dr. Bill Potter, Food Safety Technical Adviser at Elanco will share strategies for cultivating an uncompromising food safety culture through effective FSQA leadership and will help you navigate the way forward with the new FSQA framework, equipping you with essential knowledge.

Presentations by Dr. Howard Park, Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California-Davis and Dr. Adeniyi Odugbemi, Global Director - Food Safety at ADM will help us explore the Future of Food Protection with sessions related to groundbreaking AI and imaging techniques for rapid microbial detection in food systems as well as potential solutions to mitigate human error, drawing lessons from automation in food safety.

Dive into Processing and Preventive Controls with Rick Heiman, President at Food Sanitation Solutions LLC, who delves into hygienic design principles, zoning strategies, and interventions to tackle foot traffic hurdles. Jason Feinberg, Senior Manager of R&D at Newly Weds Foods will present the nuances of extending shelf-life in the age of clean labels.  When it comes to Risk Assessment, our speakers such as Njeri Boss, Vice President of Food Safety & Public Relations at Waffle House, Inc. will provide invaluable insights on risk response strategies.

Stay ahead of the Regulatory Landscape as Dr. J. Emilio Esteban, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety keeps you up to date with the latest USDA regulatory updates impacting the food industry.  Dr. Francisco Zagmutt, Managing Director at EpiX Analytics will equip you with a comprehensive understanding of risk assessment frameworks and compliance.

Don't miss this opportunity to future-proof your operations against emerging risks in the dynamic world of food protection and compliance. Register now to secure your spot!  Conferences - 2024 — Arkansas Association for Food Protection (arkafp.org)

Once again, we are an award winning IAFP Chapter!!!

2023 IAFP Best Overall Affiliate Meeting Award

Jennifer Acuff, Fabiana Guglielmone, Jerri Lynn Pickett, Kristen Gibson (from left to right)

On behalf of the Officers of the Arkansas Association for Food Protection (AAFP), it’s my pleasure to announce that we were honored with the Best Overall Affiliate Meeting Award by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP)! This recognition celebrates the outstanding teamwork and dedication showcased at the AAFP 15th Annual Meeting held in the fall of 2023.

The AAFP Annual Meeting was a standout event, bringing together industry, government, and academia to advance food safety through a diverse range of educational sessions and networking opportunities. With a record attendance of 200 affiliate members and 30 guests, the meeting demonstrated a strong commitment to inclusivity and collaboration. Key highlights of the meeting included a vibrant poster competition, technical sessions covering crucial food safety topics, and insightful discussions on industry trends and innovations. Attendees actively engaged with speakers, vendors, and each other, fostering a dynamic and interactive environment throughout the event.

We should all be incredibly proud to receive the Best Overall Affiliate Meeting Award from the IAFP. This achievement reflects our dedication to providing exceptional educational experiences and fostering meaningful connections within the food safety community. The success of the AAFP 15th Annual Meeting last fall underscores the organization's commitment to excellence and innovation in promoting food safety initiatives. I want to personally extend my gratitude to all participants, sponsors, and contributors who made this award-winning event possible, and I know the other officers feel the same. Now it’s time to look ahead to another fantastic educational conference set for September 24-26th, 2024!

 Sincerely,

2023 AAFP President (Past President)

Jennifer C. Acuff, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Food Microbiology & Safety
Department of Food Science
University of Arkansas

Arkansas & Oklahoma Joint Conference and Meet our President elect.

We have 2 announcements in this exciting news article- Nancy Gushing Corporate Lab Manager of Bochoco- OK Foods is this year’s AAFP President Elect and this year’s AAFP Conference is going to be a joint conference with Oklahoma.

AAFP President Elect Announcement

We are pleased to announce that Nancy Gushing is this year’s AAFP President Elect.  Nancy will support this year’s President Dr. Kristen Gibson and move up into the President role next year.

 Nancy’s Bio

I started my career over 30 years ago working for Keith Day at George’s Poultry.  I learned the poultry process from the feed mill to the processing plant, which taught me the cause and effect along the process. I worked in Dr. Amy Waldrop’s poultry research laboratory at the University of Arkansas as a laboratory technician that supported grad students with projects.  Dr. Waldrop’s laboratory conducted research trials on novel pathogen testing platforms used in current commercial test kits, antimicrobial applications, and verification of rapid analysis agars and plates.   In 1996, I started working in the corporate laboratory of Bachoco-OK Foods and eventually became the Corporate Lab Manager.  Food Safety education is a key component of my position at Bachoco, and being able to support my company, team and customers with science is my passion.

 To this day, I still visit our plants and support our team members on the floor, so that I always know our current situation, culture, stress, anything else that can lead to continuous improvement.   My past experience has given me a unique background to the farm to fork aspect of food safety to understand the floor of the plant as well as the food safety challenges of our team members.  During my time I have researched, written, and implemented several programs across all the plants, conducted plant trials, participated in beta site collaborations, participated in farm trials, and numerous projects with customers and USDA.  I couldn’t have achieved this level of my career at Bachoco without people like Keith Day at George’s, Dr. Amy Waldrop and her lab at the University of Arkansas.

 My support of the Arkansas Association for Food Protection and IAFP runs deep because of the continuous training and scientific support that has helped my career.   I have been involved in AAFP since 2014, as past vice president, president, affiliate delegate, and board member.  I have a passion to give back and pay it forward through my work at AAFP, so that the next “Nancy” starting her career also has a Keith or Amy that sets them up for success.  I am honored to serve as President Elect for 2024

Arkansas and Oklahoma Joint Conference

The Arkansas and Oklahoma chapters of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) are honored to announce that we are collaborating for another joint conference.   Arkansas Association for Food Protection (AAFP) and Oklahoma Association for Food Protection (OAFP)  have earned IAFP’s Best Conference Award the last time we held a joint conference.  The AAFP + OAFP Conference will be held on Tues-Thurs September 24-26, 2024 at the Fayetteville Town Center on the beautiful Square in Fayetteville.    

 The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) represents a broad range of members with a singular focus — protecting the global food supply.  The influence of Arkansas and Oklahoma food safety entities reaches far beyond the region with products and decisions made by global entities headquartered in our 2 states.   Arkansas alone had almost 200 Food Safety Professionals and scientists at last October’s AAFP Annual Conference, so we expect even more this year as we join forces with Oklahoma.  Please click here to register. Conferences - 2024 — Arkansas Association for Food Protection (arkafp.org)  We will release some of the agenda as it develops, but you can click here to see the national level quality of last year’s agenda.

Meet our New President

Kristen E Gibson

AAFP President

2024

Dear Food Safety Professional,

The Arkansas Association for Food Protection, The Arkansas Association for Food Protection has been at the forefront of fostering collaboration and excellence in the realm of food protection. Over the years, we have successfully engaged with industry leaders, academia, and health agencies to create a robust network that enhances our collective efforts in ensuring the safety and quality of the food supply chain. It is my honor to serve as President this year for our organization.

I first came to Northwest Arkansas in 2010 when I started my post-graduate career as a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Center for Food Safety within the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. As most of my training and research had focused on microbial water quality, I was not aware of the International Association for Food Protection, though I was quickly ushered in by the Arkansas affiliate members during the 2010 Annual Meeting. As I transitioned to faculty in 2012 and began build my food safety research program, I stayed engaged with AAFP through organizing sessions and presenting. However, I did not actively seek out a leadership role in AAFP until 2022 when I took over as Director of the Center for Food Safety.

Looking ahead, our focus remains on actively engaging our members throughout the year. We recognize the importance of staying connected and providing ongoing opportunities for professional development. To this end, we are aiming to organize a series of events (e.g., workshops or seminars) in 2024 to complement our Annual Meeting that will not only broaden our knowledge but also foster a sense of camaraderie among our diverse membership. As part of our mission, we are especially dedicated to supporting and nurturing our pre-professional members, ensuring that they have access to the resources and mentorship necessary for their growth in the field. 

Through the dedicated efforts of our board, committees, and members, we continue to build a strong and engaged community focused on advancing food safety not only in Arkansas but also across the region and nationally. We are excited about our ongoing conversations with the Oklahoma affiliate regarding a joint annual meeting in 2024 so stay tuned! 

In conclusion, I want to express my gratitude for your commitment to the Arkansas Association for Food Protection. Together, we have created a dynamic and impactful organization that continues to make a positive difference in the food protection landscape. I look forward to the year ahead, filled with exciting opportunities for collaboration, learning, and growth.

Kristen E. Gibson

President, AAFP (2024)

Director, Center for Food Safety

University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

BIO

Dr. Kristen Gibson is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. She received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from the University of Central Florida and her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public in Environmental Health Sciences. Kristen’s research interests are focused on understanding the fate and transport of human pathogens within the environment including leafy green production systems, optimization of methods for the detection of human pathogens in food and water and on environmental surfaces, and food safety at the retail and consumer level.

2024 Save the Date for the 16th AAFP Annual Conference

We are back with almost 200 registrations at last month’s AAFP Annual Conference  Conferences - 2023 — Arkansas Association for Food Protection (arkafp.org)  which means we are back at PRE-Covid attendance levels.  We want to thank our wonderful sponsors listed below.  The 16th Annual AAFP Conference will be held on Tues-Thurs September 24-26, 2024 at the Fayetteville Town Center on the beautiful Square in Fayetteville.  Our State’s food safety influence reaches far beyond Arkansas and the region with products and decisions made by global entities headquartered in our State. With this conference and other workshops, we make an effort to keep our food safety professionals informed of their impact at home and beyond Arkansas.  We may have some surprises for next year, so please put us on your calendar and conference list.  Please expect more updates soon. 

We look forward to seeing you at the next conference or….. one of our surprises.  Once again, we want to thank our gracious sponsors below that help make this conference a success. 

We appreciate your support, 

The Marketing and Advertising Committee

Barbara Smith, Jerri Lynn Pickett, Paula Schwarz, and Brian Umberson

2023 SPONSORS 

PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

NETWORKING EVENT SPONSORS

CONFERENCE BREAK SPONSORS

POSTER SPONSORS

Save the Date! 15th Annual AAFP Annual Conference