IFT Members Appointed to Food Safety Committee

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council have established an ad hoc committee to undertake a study to examine gaps in public health protection provided by the farm-to-table food safety system under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and identify opportunities to fill those gaps.

The study will address the recommendations of the Nov. 2007 FDA Food Protection Plan by evaluating the plan and identifying gaps and recommendations to fill the gaps. The committee’s consensus report will include legislative, regulatory, and administrative recommendations and estimates of costs of such recommendations, as feasible.

The IOM project, entitled Review of the Food and Drug Administration's Role in Ensuring Safe Food, currently has 12 committee members, four of which are Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) members. The IFT members on the committee are:

• Douglas L. Archer, University of Florida
• Robert E. Brackett, Grocery Manufacturers Association
• Martha E. Rhodes Roberts, State of Florida
• Lee-Ann Jaykus, North Carolina State Univ.

Other members of the committee are:

• Dr. Robert B. Wallace, chair, University of Iowa
• Dr. Ann Bostrom, University of Washington
• Dr. Julie A. Caswell, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• Dr. Lewis Grossman, American University
• Dr. Tim F. Jones, Tennessee Department of Health
• Ms. Barbara Kowalcyk, Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention
• Dr. J. Glenn Morris Jr., University of Florida
• Dr. Joseph V. Rodricks, ENVIRON