CALF_News_December_2018_January_2019

24 CALF News • December 2018 | January 2019 • www.calfnews.net SAFE. SECURE. SUSTAINABLE. That was the focus of the Colorado State University (CSU) 2018 Ag Innovation Summit held Sept. 21 in Fort Collins. A variety of presenta- tions touched on subjects surrounding a safe, secure and sustainable global food supply and the role innovation in agriculture will play. The afternoon panel specifically addressed Innovation in Mitigation and Response and was chaired by Keith Belk, Ph.D., Professor, CSU Ken and Myra Monfort Endowed Chair at the Center for Meat Safety and Quality. Panelists included Alfred Almanza, JBS head of food safety and quality assurance; Nathan Dorn, chief executive officer and co-founder of Food Origins; and Stephen Laughlin, vice president and general manager, global consumer industry, IMB Corporation. These experts were gathered to provide insight on how agriculture can prevent or respond to crises resulting from foodborne illness outbreaks. Coin- cidentally, this discussion came at the very time that Cargill Meat Solutions was recalling 132,000 pounds of ground beef that may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The first to address the issue, Almanza brought a unique perspective, having served as the deputy undersec- retary for food safety and administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for several years before taking his current position with JBS. Almanza said part of the problem in dealing with these types of crises is that there is no uniform way or system for medical professionals to report illnesses. Without this, it may take some time to recognize an outbreak and, by then, much of the product may already be consumed. According to Almanza, the FSIS relies on the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for information that will help them decide how to react to outbreaks. The FSIS and CDC look at the data relative to possible foodborne illnesses to determine if there is link between the ill- nesses and something in the food chain. This leads some to think that the FSIS is reacting slowly, which is not the case; they are merely monitoring it until it is very clear that there is an outbreak. “A situation like we have encountered with this current outbreak drives home the fact that we need to find better ways for prevention,” Almanza said.“While we cannot test every pound of meat that goes through a plant, we are doing every- thing possible there. But by the time a test finds something, we are too late. We need to get better at figuring out what causes these things to occur, because testing is not efficient at prevention.” Food Origins is a small, privately held, precision-data company focused on hand-harvested crops such as berries, lettuce and other field-to-plate foods. There is no processing step with these foods after harvest and distribution, so testing is also a key factor and tool – but also not enough and too late to prevent a foodborne illness outbreak. Nathan Dorn, Food Origins’ CEO, sees a food safety and traceability system as more of an insurance model. Food Origins started out as a labor and energy efficiency company that designed a system from the ground up that would improve data capture and production mapping, including a supply-chain man- agement system. They devised handheld devices for field workers so that they can register a product as it’s harvested. CSU Ag Innovation Summit Tackles Food Safety By Lisa Bard Contributing Editor CSU 2018 Ag Innovation Summit panelists field questions from the audience. Seated, left to right, are Alfred Almanza, Nathan Dorn, Stephen Laughlin and Keith Belk, Ph.D.