MSUE Food Safety AoE Team Meeting Minutes

October 10, 2000

107 Kellogg Center, MSU Campus

Participants: Betty Blase, Cynthia Warren, Kirk Dolan, Lisa Treiber, Sam Varghese, Cathy Pisano, Roberta Rodgers, May Mong, Sheryl Leonard, Mary Bellows, Ellen DeFay, Les Bourquin, Jennifer Wagester, Al Booren, and Karen Shirer

Meeting called to order at 9:15 a.m.

Additional agenda items were requested. Mini-grants were to be discussed during the Consumer Education Workgroup report and ServSafe was to be discussed during the Training Workgroup report.

It was noted that a new display was purchased for the Food Safety AoE Team through the W.K.K.F. grant under the direction of Les Bourquin, Mark A. Uebersax, and Toby Ten Eyck and a Good Agricultural Practices grant under the direction of Les Bourquin. The display was located in the Lincoln Room at the Kellogg Center during the Extension Conference. The Food Safety AoE Team materials on the display were similar to those presented at the Extension Council Conference. Anyone interested in borrowing the display should contact Jennifer Wagester.

Review of Minutes from the June 19, 2000 Meeting

• One correction was noted. Under the first bullet of the Consumer Education Workgroup Report, it should specify that 15 mini-grants were awarded, but not funded directly. These individuals were told that the funds would be available, but that they would have to complete the work in order to receive them. At this time only 3 individuals have completed their mini-grants and received funds. Of the 7 that Sam Varghese agreed to fund, only 1 has been completed.

Update on Workgroups' Activities

Social Dimensions Workgroup:

• All of the Social Dimensions Workgroup members were out of town, so Les Bourquin provided a report. The Risk Communication Conference that they were involved with has received a great deal of positive feedback and a proceedings from the conference is forthcoming. The workgroup members are discussing the possibility of hosting another conference pertaining to risk communication, however, no definite plans have been made.

Consumer Education Workgroup:

• Mini-grants. The response to the mini-grant RFP was good, however, many of the individuals whose mini-grants were accepted did not complete their projects. It was noted that perhaps the rules for the awarding of mini-grants need to be changed so that they are more flexible. Rules for this year's mini-grant process will be drafted in the near future. Sam Varghese offered to provide $5000 (10 mini-grants of $500) for this year's mini-grants.

• Note: Les Bourquin indicated that most of the funds from Fiscal Year 2000 were carried over into this fiscal year, however, this year's funds may not be able to be carried over into the next fiscal year.

• Other Activities.
• The BAC Fighters Food Safety For Preschoolers Curriculum was sent to the Extension Home Economists and Food Safety Educators in the counties.
• The Consumer Education Workgroup collaborated with the Michigan Food Safety Task Force in Southeast Michigan to create a September Food Safety Month Packet. The packet was sent to all Extension Home Economists and Food Safety Educators in the counties and to select media in Southeast Michigan.

Training Workgroup:

· ServSafe. On August 28-30th, twenty-seven MSUE agents, CEDs, and specialists participated in the ServSafe Training Workshop that was held at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Pleasant. All of the participants successfully completed the workshop and received a 89% or better on the exam.

The implementation of the Michigan Unified Food Law of 2000 will be a gradual process over the next several months and inspectors are being requested to provide their clientele with educational materials and/or opportunities to ease the process of implementation. It has been noted that a Person In Charge must be at the establishment at all times during operation. This person will be requested to demonstrate knowledge by 1) being in compliance with the code, 2) correctly answering questions during inspection, and/or
3) successfully completing a manager training program such as the 16-hour ServSafe Program. The 4-hour ServSafe Program is considered appropriate for food handlers.

Jennifer Wagester will send an email to the MSUE ServSafe participants that asks if any of them are interested in participating in the 8-hour Train-the-Trainer Workshop that is required to become an instructor for the 16-hour training program. Arrangements will be made to facilitate their obtaining this training. If anyone is interested in hosting a 16-hour ServSafe Program, it was advised that the local health department be involved in the training. The health departments possess a great deal of expertise regarding some of the different topics that are covered.

· Les Bourquin is involved in two additional food safety educational projects. Both are multi-state efforts. One involves developing a HACCP Program for Fresh Juice Processors and the other involves developing a Good Agricultural Practices curriculum. He is expecting these items to be completed in 2001.

Report from the Michigan Food Safety Task Forces

Southeast Region:

· The Task Force is in the process of creating a one-page quarterly newsletter that will focus on various food safety issues. The first edition of the newsletter is expected to be released the beginning of 2001.

· A Video for BacFighter! Curriculum has been developed by the United Learning/Achstul Group. The target audience for the video is preschoolers and the cost of the video is $69. The Task Force would like the Food Safety AoE Team to consider providing funds to acquire a certain number of videos to make it available to the county offices.

· The Michigan Food Safety Task Force activities were featured as a case study in “Using Partnerships to Fight BAC!: A Workbook for Local Food Safety Educators.”

Mid-Michigan Region:

· The first meeting was held September 12^th. Representatives from FDA, MDA, MSUE, the Food Safety AoE Team, and the community food industry were present. The first meeting was considered to be productive and efforts are currently underway to increase participation. Jennifer Wagester has obtained a listserv address for the group (fstaskforce@listserv.msue.msu.edu), which should be operational in the near future. The next meeting will be held December 6^th at 1pm in the Bay County MSU Extension Office.

Finalize the Food Safety AoE Mode of Operations

· It was determined that since a large number of the Food Safety AoE Team members were absent, the mode of operations would be discussed and edited via the Food Safety AoE Team listserv. The mode of operations will be voted on at the AoE Retreat in November.

Discussion Regarding the Food Safety AoE Team Letterhead

· A draft of the Food Safety AoE Team Letterhead was distributed by Jennifer Wagester. It was decided that Jennifer's name and contact information would be added to the letterhead in addition to MSUE's disclaimer. To avoid copying someone else's logo, the workgroup names would be added to each of the circles. A second draft will be made available at the retreat.

Update on November 8-9, 2000 Retreat

· The retreat will be held at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Pleasant, MI. An agenda for the retreat was distributed at the meeting. The first day of the retreat will begin at 10 a.m. and end with dinner at 6 p.m. The second day will begin at 8:30 a.m. and adjourn at 12:00 p.m. Room reservations can be made by calling the Holiday Inn at 800-292-8891 before October 20^th. A block of rooms is being held under “Food Safety Retreat.”

The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.