Flor ida Associat ion for Food Protect ion Fal l Issue

2012

Member Spotlight—

Dr. Michelle Danyluk

Board of Directors:

President - Jenny Lahnoudi Walt Disney World Co.

jennifer.lahnoudi@disney.com

President Elect - Tim Westbrook Publix Super Markets, Inc.

Vice President - Ken Tyrrell Chem-star Corporation

Treasurer - Rick Barney: Sweetbay Super Markets

Secretary - David Calabrase - Sani Professional

Past President - Michelle Danyluk: University of Florida

Directors:

Eric Martin - Jimmy Buffett’s Mar-garitaville

Zeb E. Blanton, Jr. - SGS North America

Yoseline Torres - ICertainty

Gillian Dagan - ABC Research

Marjorie Jones - NSF International

Angelica O’Shaughnessy - BioMerieux

Jeff Leever - Carlson Restaurants

Directors at Large:

Tony Febbraro - Microbica Labo-ratory Partners, Inc

Diane Kelsch - FDA

Affiliate Representative - Peter Hibbard: Darden Restaurants, Inc.

Newsletter Editor - Jennifer Walker: Walmart

FA F P C O N N E C T I O N S

Salmonella in

Peanut Butter?

What’s Going on

Here?

Rachel McEgan

On October 5, 2012, the

FDA confirmed finding

Salmonella in environ-

mental swabs taken at a

nut butter production fa-

cility run by Sunland Inc.

All products made in that

facility between March 1,

2010 and September 24,

2012 have been recalled.

This was in response to an

outbreak of Salmonella

Bredeney, initially an-

nounced September 22,

2012. So far there have

been 35 confirmed cases

Our Mission: To provide Food Safety Professionals worldwide with a forum to exchange

information on protecting the food supply.

Where Are They Now?

FAFP at IAFP

2 - 3

FAFP News, Mem-

bers & Sponsors

5-7

Inside this issue:

Get to know past FAFP President Dr. Michelle Dany-luk. She gave us a her insight on the experience of panel inter-views for a PhD and benefits of being a member of FAFP. When did you join FAFP? I joined FAFP in the spring of 2007, when I started my position at the University of Florida. I had been watching the FAFP skit at the IAFP

business meeting for years, and was excited to join the group. My first involve-ment was stuffing the bags for the 2007 IAFP meeting at Disney. My second was wearing the bright yellow shirt and silly Mickey hands and directing folks to regis-tration; quite an initiation to FAFP. What benefits do you get from being a member of FAFP? I find tremendous value with my FAFP member-ship. It was extremely valu-able meeting so many folks in the Florida Food Indus-try when I first moved here.

Now FAFP is like a family to me, I never leave a meeting or luncheon without learning something new. What company do you work for and for how long? I’m currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. I submitted my ten-ure packet this summer, so hopefully next year, I’ll be granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. What do you like most about your job? There are two things I love

(Continued on page 3)

of salmonellosis (the dis-

ease caused by Salmo-

nella) in 19 states through-

out the US. From these

illnesses, eight persons

have been hospitalized (1).

Based on investigations by

state, local, and federal

public health agencies,

Trader Joe’s Valencia

Creamy Salted Peanut

Butter made with Sea Salt,

manufactured by Sunland

Inc of Portales, New Mex-

ico is the likely source of

the outbreak. The out-

break strain has been iso-

lated from any open jar of

(Continued on page 4)

FAFP Connections Page 2

Where Are They

Now?

Past FAFP President Natalie Dyen-

son gives our members an overview

of the recent publication on GFSI in

the Journal for Food Protection and

what she’s been up to since being

involved with FAFP.

The Journal for Food Protection

Volume 74 edition recently featured

a publication titled ‘Companies’ Opin-

ions and Acceptance of Global Food Safety

Initiative Benchmarks after Implementa-

tion. Natalie was part of a group of

individuals (Phil Crandall, Ellen J.

Van Loo, Corliss A. O’Bryan, Andy

Mauromoustakos, Frank Yiannas

and Irina Berdnik) who authored the

aforementioned article. This team

presented a study that evaluated the

impact of a retailer (Walmart) requir-

ing suppliers to become GFSI com-

pliant.

The article states “GFSI provides

real-time information to manage

food safety, minimize risks from

foodborne pathogens, manage costs

associated with establishing a dy-

namic and effective food safety cul-

ture, and maintain consumer confi-

dence in our food and retail indus-

tries (2, 3). Each approved GFSI

food safety scheme is now bench-

marked against a common criterion

to create a harmonized and verified

control system to produce and de-

liver safe foods (1).”

According to the study, “most sup-

pliers agreed that GFSI required a

more carefully documented food

safety management system, which

often required improved company

food safety practices and increased

employee training (1).” The study

concluded that “opportunities exist

for worldwide retailers and suppliers

to understand the savings and bene-

fits associated with a single, interna-

tionally recognized food safety certi-

fication program (1).” To read the

full article, IAFP subscribers can go

to www.foodprotection.org.

So what is Natalie up to now a days?

She is currently the Senior Director,

Supplier Food Safety at Walmart.

Below, she talks about what her job

entails, what she most enjoys about

her job, life after FAFP and what she

has coming up next.

Tells our members about yourself.

Natalie: I lead the Supplier Food

Safety Team for Walmart Stores, Inc.

which includes support of products sold

at Walmart stores and Sam’s Club

locations in the US and Puerto Rico.

My team is responsible for setting sup-

plier expectations, holding suppliers

accountable to those expectations, work-

ing with the suppliers on issues resolu-

tion (including complaints, recalls and

regulatory inquiries) and developing

additional supplier food safety programs

and/or requirements to further reduce

risk early in the supply chain. In addi-

tion, my team also supports our food

safety teams located in international

markets around the world including

Africa, Asia and throughout Latin

America.

What do you enjoy most about your

job as it relates to food safety?

Natalie: I enjoy the opportunity to work with different suppliers manufac-turing a wide range of foods in locations around the world. It is very rewarding to see the global impact of the work we are doing here in Bentonville. For ex-ample, in the four years I have been with Walmart, we have worked with more than 4,000 facilities to get them aligned with the Global Food Safety Initiative. In addition, by working with our international partners in other countries, more than 70% of all suppli-ers of Walmart owned private brands sold at any Walmart banner around the world are now GFSI certified. I also very much enjoy being able to make such a positive impact on the health of our consumers through industry leading initiatives that significantly reduce pub-lic health risk. Our beef safety initia-tive launched nearly three years ago and required all of our suppliers of ground beef products and raw materials used in ground beef to achieve specific process control standards for the reduction (up to 5 logs) of relevant enteric microorgan-isms through implementation of a scien-tifically validated intervention or series of interventions. As a result, we have seen a 75% reduction over the past two years in the number of class I recalls in ground beef products. We also worked on a deli meat Listeria

control initiative and an extensive re-

view of sprout industry process controls

(Continued on page 3)

Natalie Dyenson

FAFP Connections Page 3

about my job. The first of which is working with students, and especially graduate students with a focus on of food safety. Sharing my knowledge with them, and seeing them gain confidence in their own knowledge and their own opinions is tremen-dously rewarding. The opportunity to share their work with the other members of FAFP and see all they gain from their interactions with FAFP members is an invaluable ex-perience. My research laboratory focuses on applied produce safety issues; the work we are doing that can have a real impact on the safety of Florida commodities is exciting. What is your most memorable day of your career? My most memorable day in food safety was the day I passed my PhD qualifying exam. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the process, during your time as a PhD student, you need to pass an oral qualifying exam to become a PhD candidate; its designed to be especially awful (I can say this now that I’m on the other side of the fence and subject my students to the same thing). The student stands before a panel of 4-6 faculty who can ask them any ques-tions they want related to food safety or anything they may have studied since they were an under-grad, and continue to ask questions until the student becomes uncom-fortable, answers incorrectly, or says I don’t know. No one feels good after one of these exams, even if they do well and pass; I certainly didn’t. What makes this day so memorable, is that its designed to prepare you for the rest of your ca-reer. Every time I pick up my phone or read an email someone might be asking me a question I’m uncom-fortable with or don’t know the an-swer to, but have to answer anyways.

(Continued from page 1) When I’m in these situations now, I remember back to my qualifying exam and how it prepared me to know I could handle being in it again. What do you like to do in your spare time? I’m going to take this time to encour-age you all to listen to my friends Don Shaffner and Ben Chapman’s pod cast - Food Safety Talk. You can download it from iTunes® or find it at http://www.foodsafetytalk.com/. It’s pretty amusing and as they’ve both spoken at FAFP meetings, they’ve been known to make FAFP references. If you get a moment, check it out. For more information on Dr. Dany-luk and her program at the Univer-sity Florida, check out http://fshn.ifas.ufl.edu/pages/danyluk.shtml

and supplier partnerships to pursue

better testing methods and interventions

for a safer product.

What about your current involve-

ment with IAFP or your local State

chapter?

Natalie: I’m still involved in IAFP

both attending meetings and participat-

ing as a symposia presenter. I am also

a founding member of the Arkansas

Association for Food Protection

(AAFP) and am serving my 3rd term

on the Board of Directors for AAFP.

What’s next?

(Continued from page 2)

Natalie: I am now working on a second

article with researchers at three different

nationally recognized institutions to

evaluate the public health risk reduction

impact of our deli meat initiative.

We look forward to your next publi-cation. References:

1. Crandall, P.G., Van Loo, E.J.,

O’Bryan, C.A., Mauromousta-

kos, A., Yiannas, F., Dyenson,

N., Berdnik, I. 2012. Compa-

nies’ Opinions and Acceptance

of Global Food Safety Initiative

Benchmarks after Implementa-

tion. Journal of Food Protection,

Vol. 75, No. 9, 2012 Pages 1660-

1672.

2. Global Food Safety Initiative.

2011. Welcome to the Global

Food Safety Initiative. Available

at: http://www.mygfsi.com/.

Accessed 20 June 2011.

3. Global Food Safety Initiative.

2011. Guidance document, 6th

ed. Available at: http://

www.mygfsi.com/information-

resources/

gfsiguidancedocumentssixthedi-

tion.html. Accessed 20 March

2011.

FAFP Connections Page 4

No Surprise, FAFP was a Big Hit at IAFP!

The International Association for Food Protection ‘Affiliate View’

Volume 17, Issue 4 featured a boisterous picture of the FAFP Board

Members at the IAFP Business Meeting held in Rhode Island. FAFP

President Jenny Lahnoudi apologized to the crowd that FAFP would

not be performing one of their infamous skits due to budget con-

straints. The meeting was then interrupted by none other than the

FAFP Board Members decked out in past skit costumes.

It wasn’t all fun and games at IAFP. Five awards were given to Affili-

ates for their efforts and achievements. Of the five awards, FAFP

received two: the C.B. Shogren Memorial Award and Best Affiliate

Overall Meeting.

Thank you to all who make FAFP such a success!

Photos from the IAFP Affiliate View: Volume 17, Issue 4. Fall 2012.

From left: Zeb Blanton, Yoseline Torres, Eric Martin,

Jenny Lahnoudi, Michelle Danyluk, Angelica O’Shaugh-

nessy, Marjorie Jones, Ken Tyrell and Peter Hibbard.

Accepting the Best Affiliate Overall Meeting from GloriaSwick-Brown: Eric Martin, Gloria Swick-Brown, Past President Michelle Danyluk, Peter Hibbard and Zeb Blanton.

C.B. Shogren Memorial Award was accepted by Peter Hibbard,

(presented by Gloria Swick-Brown), 2011-2012 Past President

Michelle Danyluk, current President Jenny Lahnoudi, and Eric

Martin.

the peanut butter taken from a case-

patient’s home.

Many of us remember other peanut

butter borne Salmonella outbreaks

over the last decade. In 2006-2007,

a Salmonella Tennessee outbreak

occurred and was linked back to

peanut butter; 425 persons were

infected with 71 of them requiring

hospitalization (2). Again, we saw

a salmonellosis outbreak involving

peanut butter in 2008-2009, this

time with Salmonella Typhi-

(Continued from page 1) murium and involved not only pea-

nut butter, but also many products

that contained ingredients processed

in the same facility. In this out-

break, a confirmed 714 persons

were infected (4). Over the past

decade, we have seen a lot of ill-

nesses from a product traditionally

thought to be far too inhospitable

for the survival of human patho-

gens. So what is happening here?

While the link between Salmonella

and a food so far away from the

traditionally assumed vectors of

poultry and egg products, peanut

butter may not actually be that sur-

prising of a vehicle for Salmonella

after all…

Salmonella is a bacterium that can

cause disease in both humans and

animals. It can also be carried with-

out symptoms in many food ani-

mals (chickens, pigs, cattle). Sal-

monella is also capable of surviv-

ing in the environment, including

soil and water, and on inanimate

surfaces, such as those found in

(Continued on page 5)

FAFP Connections Page 5

processing facilities, for an extraor-

dinary length of time.

Even though we may not conven-

tionally think of peanut butter as

having any possible association

with Salmonella, careful thought

regarding the sources and processes

involved in peanut butter produc-

tion can challenge that view. Sal-

monella contamination can occur

during many stages of peanut butter

production. Salmonella introduced

in the soil through the addition of

manure or through irrigation can

survive for months or years, con-

taminating peanuts growing under-

ground (3). More opportunity for

contamination may occur during

harvest, transportation, or storage.

After harvest, transportation, and

storage, peanuts are first roasted

then ground into peanut butter. The

typical roasting process has the pea-

nuts reaching 350ºF (180ºC) (3).

This temperature should destroy

any Salmonella that could have

been present on the raw peanuts.

Further processing, such as grinding

and blending, does not reach tem-

peratures sufficient to destroy Sal-

monella, so that any contamination

after roasting could potentially sur-

vive until the consumer. In fact,

reports have suggested Salmonella

can survive at least 6 months in

peanut butter. Peanut butter in the

home is a ready-to-eat product, no

further kill step can be assumed. So

we can see how it is very conceiva-

bly possible for peanut butter to

cause an outbreak of salmonellosis

if there was a breakdown in SSOPs

and GMPs in the processing facility

or an adequate HACCP plan is not

developed and maintained for the

monitoring of the roasting step.

Keep in mind, we should never

judge an entire industry on someone

else’s mistake, peanut butters not

(Continued from page 4) involved in the current recall can

still be safely eaten… so go ahead

and enjoy another PB&J sandwich.

Bredeney, Tennessee, Typhi-

murium...what are they talking

about? These are different serovars

of Salmonella. Almost all the Sal-

monella serovars cause the same

disease once consumed by a hu-

man. That is, diarrhea, fever, and

abdominal cramps that last 4 to 7

days. Serovars are distinguished

from each other through surface

markers which occur in different

combinations on each of the over

2,500 known Salmonella serovars.

This process is done using antibod-

ies that are able to selectively rec-

ognize and bind with only one spe-

cific surface marker. After the se-

rovar is determined, ‘DNA finger-

prints’ are compared to determine

if the isolates from each suspected

illness are related enough to have

likely came form the same original

source. This is how it is deter-

mined if a case of salmonellosis is

in fact related to an ongoing out-

break or if it has likely come from

another source. Without determin-

ing the serovar, it would be diffi-

cult to determine if an outbreak

was in fact occurring, or if the re-

ported incidences of disease were

sporadic cases.

References.

1. Anonymous. 2012. Multistate

outbreak of Salmonella Bre-

deney infections linked to pea-

nut butter manufactured by

Sunland, Inc. http://

www.cdc.gov/salmonella/

bredeney-09-12/index.html.

Accessed 20 October 2012.

2. Anonymous. 2007. Multistate

outbreak of Salmonella sero-

type Tennessee infections asso-

ciated with peanut butter -

United States, 2006-2007

(Reprinted from MMWR, vol

56, pg 521, 2007). Jama-

Journal of the American Medi-

cal Association. 298:33-35.

3. Cavallaro E, Date K, Medus

C, Meyer S, Miller B, Kim C,

Nowicki S, Cosgrove S, Sweat

D, Phan Q, Flint J, Daly ER,

Adams J, Hyytia-Trees E,

Gerner-Smidt P, Hoekstra

RM, Schwensohn C, Langer

A, Sodha SV, Rogers MC,

Angulo FJ, Tauxe RV, Wil-

liams IT, Behravesh CB. Sal-

monella Typhimurium Infec-

tions Associated with Peanut

Products. N.Engl. J. Med.

365:601-610.

4. Lang L. 2009. Food and Drug

Administration Web Page on

Salmonella and Peanut Butter.

Gastroenterology. 136:1131-

1132.

Rachel McEgan is a PhD candidate

at the University of Florida’s Citrus

and Research and Education Center

and is also the FAFP fall scholar-

ship recipient.

FAFP

News… Nominations for

the FAFP Board

were recently

sent out. This is

your opportunity to submit a nomi-

nation to be active in FAFP.

FAFP has approved a grant pro-

posal of $4,000 to The Partnership

for Food Safety Education. The

grant was approved by the Officers

and Board of Directors to support

the development of a bilingual 20-

minute learning activity for use by

kids, parents, teachers and after

school educators to be shared on

the Partnership’s website at

www.fightbac.org.

FAFP Connections Page 6

Join Discussions and Check out the FAFP Group on Linkedin.com

Florida Association for Food Protec-tion Group on Linkedin.com is a great way to join online food safety, regulatory, environmental, and public health related discussions, meet other FAFP members and keep up to date on the newest trends and issues.

Become a Member

of FAFP

We are always looking for

people interested in joining

our organization

Who Can Join? The Florida Association for Food Protection is looking for professionals in the Food Industry to join us in enhanc-ing the level of education, service and commitment for Food Safety Officials in Industry, Govern-ment and Academia within the State of Florida. Benefits of Joining Your membership demonstrates your support and commitment to promoting food safety in Florida. It helps the Association in the develop-ment of procedures, new legislation, ideas and methods. Your member-ship allows us to educate food safety professionals in all areas, advancing our knowledge and awareness of safe food handling. How Can You Join? To join, we need a completed appli-cation and membership dues for the first year. Please contact us for more information and a membership application at: FAFP2000@hotmail.com, or check out our website at www.fafp.net.

FAFP Remembers...

We were sorry to hear that FAFP member Melissa Mundo passed away on September 29, 2012.

Melissa became a member of FAFP in 2008 and worked for Duda Farm Fresh Foods. Melissa was also

an active member of IAFP. Our sympathy and thoughts go out to her family and friends.

ABC Research Laboratories - Lori Stephens

CleanX-Press - Brian Rockwell

Diamond Systems - Ramon Rivera Driscoll’s - Amanda Turgeau

Dundee Citrus Growers Associa-tion - John Marshall

Eurofins Analytical Testing Cen-ter - Supat Sirivicha, PhD

Flying Food Group - Gregory Adams Greek Island Spice - Joshua Bar-tram

Lee Memorial Health Systems - Pat Agent

Lucy Mollan

N2N Global - Veronica Nardone

Paul Miller

ShockWatch, Cold Chain Solu-tions - Joe Garcia

The Packers of Indian River, LTD - Thomas Stopyra

University of Florida - Jessica Lepper

Anne Gossin

Martha Roberts

Anita Wright

Whole Foods Market - Jamie Irwin

FAFP Connections Page 7

Our Valued Corporate Sponsors Their support allows us to bring you the high level of education and information on our Web Page,

Luncheons, Newsletter and Annual Education Conference.

Gold Sponsors: Chemstar Corporation Ecolab/ Kay Chemicals

Diversey Eurofins Food Safety Systems Orkin Commercial Services

Proctor & Gamble Professional Publix Super Markets Inc.

Sani Professional Winn Dixie Stores, Inc.

Silver Sponsors:

Central Seafood Co., Inc. D.L. Newslow & Associates

Sani Professional SGS United States Testing Company

Sweetbay Super Markets

Bronze Sponsors: Advanced Fresh Concepts Duda Farm Fresh Foods EHA Consulting Group

Hospitality Resource Supply, Inc. Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Microbica Laboratory Partners

NSF International Sensitech Inc.

The Steritech Group, Inc.

If you are interested in being a Corporate Sponsor, please contact Zeb Blanton, Jr., P.O. Box

160032, Altamonte Springs, FL, 32716, (407) 682-4720 or by e-mail at Zeb.Blanton@sgs.com and ask for

Corporate Sponsorship information.