AFDO Educational Conference presentations


Thursday, June 17, 2021

Virtual Event

Food Sessions

12:30 – 1:30 PM ET

Manufactured Food Virtual Assessments, Inspections and Audits

Progress is often borne out of necessity.  COVID-19 raised inspectional and audit challenges that compelled regulatory programs and industry to look for new ways to assess compliance and share sensitive information remotely.  This session will discuss some of the progress made related to virtual inspections and audits and the electronic sharing of documents in a secure manner.

Speakers:

1:30PM – 2:30PM ET

Achieving Healthy People 2030 Foodborne Illness Reduction Objectives

2:30PM – 3:30PM ET

Conducting Successful Foodborne Illness Investigations

Learn strategies and best practices used by states for the most successful foodborne illness outbreak investigations.

Moderator: Steven Mandernach, Executive Director, Association of Food and Drug Officials

  • Doug Dyer, HE Investigator III, Public Health-Seattle & King County
  • Douglas Irving (DJ), Environmentalist, Tennessee Department of Health
  • Brendalee Viveiros, Principal Public Health Promotion Specialist/RRT Supervisor, Rhode Island Department of Health

3:30PM – 4:30PM ET

Nationwide Cyclospora and Virginia Cyclospora Outbreaks

Retail Sessions

12:30PM – 12:45PM ET

Welcome and Session Moderator:

  • Valerie Potopsingh, Retail Food Specialist, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

12:45PM – 2:00PM ET

TCS, or not TCS -That is the Question

Determining if a food requires time and temperature control for safety is often a difficult task. In this interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to find out how well they stack up to other AFDO AEC attendees in assessing Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) status of some foods commonly found in retail food establishments. Our panel of experts will weigh in on those products sharing their experiences, considerations for making these decisions, and resources to help you to answer the decades-old question of “TCS or Not TCS.”

Moderator:

  • Adam Inman, Assistant Program Manager, Kansas Department of Agriculture

Speakers:

  • Devin K. Dutilly, MS, MPH, CPH, REHS/RS, Consumer Safety Officer, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  • Donald Schaffner, Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist, Rutgers University
  • Benjamin Chapman, Professor, Food Safety Specialist, Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences, North Carolina State University, NC Cooperative Extension
  • Brian Nummer, PhD, Professor, Utah State University

2:15PM – 3:15PM ET

FDA Risk Factor Study 2015-2016 Data Collection Results for Delis

FDA’s current ten-year study is designed to provide a means for investigating the relationship between food safety management systems, certified food protection managers, and the occurrence of foodborne illness risk within retail food and foodservice establishments.  This presentation will cover the key findings from the 2015-16 retail food store delis data collection period.  During this session, both regulatory and industry retail food safety professionals will gain important insights into the current strengths and challenges within the nation’s retail food protection system.   

Speaker:

  • Michael Nordos, R.S., Retail Food Specialist, Branch II, U.S. Food & Drug Administration

3:30PM – 4:30PM ET

Retail Program Standards Sharing Session: What’s Your Intervention Strategy

Please join us for this session where retail regulatory agencies will share the findings from their foodborne illness risk factor studies and the intervention strategies that they have implemented to meet Standard 9 of the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards.

Speakers:

  • Lane Drager, Consumer Protection Program Coordinator, Boulder County Public Health, Colorado
  • Meg McGuire, Environmental Health Programs Coordinator, Rockingham County DHHS, North Carolina
  • Mark Speltz, Bureau Chief, Food and Consumer Safety, Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals

Download PDF

Produce Sessions

12:30PM – 2:00PM ET

How States are Handling Produce Illness Investigations and Outbreaks

States discuss how they are coordinating with other food regulatory programs, MOUs they have in place, their involvement in a Rapid Response Team (RRT) or Emergency Response Team, how they are currently involved in produce recalls, and how their state handles chemical and physical contamination of produce on farms.

Moderator:

Kristin Esch, Produce Safety Expert, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CFSAN, PSN

Speaker:

  • Jill Wisehart, Management Analyst, Washington State Department of Agriculture
  • Shelley Phillips, Produce Program Supervisor, California Department of Food and Agriculture
  • Teressa Lopez, PSR Program Director, Arizona Department of Agriculture
  • Joseph Smith, Produce Safety and Dairy Inspector, Michigan State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

2:00PM – 3:00PM ET

How States are Handling Turnover and Maintaining Good Training Programs as a Result

States discuss the challenges of turnover within their program, plans and strategies they used to overcome the turnover, and how they have maintained a successful training program for remaining and new staff.

Moderator:

Kristin Esch, Produce Safety Expert, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CFSAN, PSN

Speaker:

  • Scott McClure, FSMA Coordinator, Florida Department of Agriculture-DFV
  • Susanna Pearlstein, Program Manager, Produce Safety, Oregon State Department of Agriculture
  • Kim Carlen, Produce Safety Program Specialist, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
  • Mark Reed, Produce Safety Program Manager, Kentucky Department of Agriculture

3:00PM – 4:00PM ET

Inspection Frequency and Prioritization

States discuss their inventory numbers, how they are prioritizing their inspections, how PDAT has been used by their program, and if the state plans to conduct additional inspections above the number required by the Produce Cooperative Agreement.

Moderator:

Valerie Gamble, Produce Safety Program Manager, Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Speaker:

  • Rene Nieto, Produce Safety Outreach Specialist, Texas Department of Agriculture
  • Matthew Fout, Produce Safety Manager, Ohio Department of Agriculture
  • Kelly Johnson, Produce Safety Manager, South Carolina Department of Agriculture
  • Vivien Mccurdy, Produce Safety Supervisor, Indiana Department of Health

4:00PM – 4:30PM ET

AFDO Produce Updates and Projects

Hear about the workgroups and ongoing projects of the Produce Committee,  the United Fresh/AFDO Listeria project, and other resources available.

  • Brenda Morris, Director of Produce Safety, Association of Food and Drug Officials

Body Art Sessions

12:30PM – 12:45PM ET

Welcome and Session Moderator:

12:45PM – 1:45PM ET

Sterilization, Decontamination, and Single Use Practices

This presentation will offer insight to modern sterilization practices within body art facilities. Topics will include Personal Protective Equipment, Decontamination practices, Equipment maintenance and storage and Single use instruments and storage.

Speakers:

  • John Johnson, OSHA General Industry Trainer, Association of Professional Piercers
  • Selina Medina, Compliance and Education Manager, Body Art Alliance

Download PDF

1:45PM – 2:30PM ET

Permanent Makeup

An in-depth presentation on tattooing as a permanent makeup or microblading procedure.  Understand the tattooing procedure of the manual method of microblading versus an electrical device performing permanent make up.  Although both are tattooing, Pat will present the differences in pigments, saturation levels and expectations with both of these tattooing techniques.

Speakers:

2:45PM – 4:30PM ET

Panel Question and Answer Session

Participate in a discussion with professionals in the body art industry and regulators where they will be discussing what is happening in the body art industry across the country.

  • Matt Bavougian, Owner Onyx Piercing Studio; Co-Chair, Body Art Education Alliance
  • Michael Crea, R.S., Owner of Z-Edge Piercing Inc., Executive Director, Florida Environmental Health Association, Body Piercing, BLS, CPR & Bloodborne Pathogens Trainer
  • Kathy HartmanBS, REHS; OSHA Authorized General Industry Trainer; Owner, Body Art Training Group
  • Steve Joyner, Body Art Compliance; Co-Chair, National Environmental Health Association Body Art Committee; Member, AFDO Body Art Committee; Member/former Board Member, Association of Professional Piercers
  • John Misock, Senior Consultant, Ceutical Labs Inc.
  • Cathy Montie, Body Art Educational Consultant, Cathy Montie Body Art Training Company

Cannabis Sessions

12:30PM -1:30PM ET

Hemp in Food

  • Steve Carmody, Environmental Manager, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food Safety
  • Tenesha Stubblefield, Consumable Hemp Program Lead, DIA Food and Consumer Safety Bureau

1:30PM -2:30PM ET

Cannabinoid Analogs and their Regulatory Challenges: Delta-8 THC, Delta-10, THC-v, and more

  • Michael McQueeny, Counsel/Professor, Foley Hoag LLP/New York Law School
  • Greg Gerdeman, Neuroscientist
  • Brett Goldman, Public Policy

2:30PM – 3:30PM ET

Health Canada Update

3:00PM – 3:30PM ET

Cannabis Lab Challenges

3:30PM – 4:30PM ET

Lessons Learned:  What I Wish I Had Known

  • Hezakiah Allen, Director of Education, A Therapeutic Alternative
  • Steve Bevan, Partner, O’Can Group
  • Erin Kennedy, Vice President & Certification Director, Focus – Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards