Below is ASTA Online 2021 session descriptions, speakers, sponsors, and more. Attendees: To view the recordings and access PDF’s, please use the Swapcard app. through 2021.
Download Program-at-a-Glance
Monday, May 10, 2021
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Monday, May 10, 2021 – Pre-Day |
First Timer’s Orientation Invitation Only
Hosted by ASTA Board of Directors and Staff
ASTA Board of Directors Meeting Closed Meeting
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 – Trends, Market Updates and Crop Reports |
Opening Remarks
ASTA President, Larry Lichter, and Special Guests
Exploring Chef-Inspired Spice Trends with the Flavor Alliance
This dynamic session will set the stage for ASTA Online 2021 with updates on how health, sustainability, climate change, and supply chain challenges are shaping consumer trends and tastes in a post-covid world. Chefs will share inspirations and tips for making new spicy trends sizzle. The Flavor Alliance, a collaboration of Chef Charlie Baggs and Tony Treadway will explore consumer market trends impacting the spice sector. World Renowned Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis, CMC will give insights on why plant-based foods are meeting consumer demands for health, convenience, simplicity, and craveability. The session concludes with a live Q&A.
About our Speaker:
Moderator: Simone Cormier, National Spice Coordinator, Allegro Coffee Company/Whole Foods Market
Panel: Chef Charlie Baggs, President of Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations, Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis, Chief Culinary Officer, Hungry Planet, Tony Treadway, President & Founder, Creative Energy Group, Inc. and a blend of special chefs will give their favorite spice blends trending in 2021 and beyond
Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Sloan, Ph.D., President, Sloan Trends; Contributing Editor, Food Technology Magazine Just added!
Chef Charlie Baggs is the President of Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations. Obsession with flavor is Chef Charlie’s personal philosophy, and is shared by his team. Back in 1999, the whole idea for CBCI was sparked by Chef Charlie’s life-changing decision to create a different kind of food consulting company– a company that was a pure blend of his fiery passion for creating new flavors with his rigorous training at the Culinary Institute of America, and his wholehearted devotion to the business of hospitality.
Rooted in culinary innovation, our nimble team of chefs brings their passion for food and culinary solutions to your team. They are constantly inspired to create gold-standard recipes that are operationally feasible, delicious, and delightful to your target consumer. We become integral members of your internal development team and bring cutting edge sharp focus on your goals.
Through our culinary collaboration, we will inspire and prepare your internal team to speak the language of food and connect with your customers. By helping educate and train your team, you are empowered with insights, ideas, and information that will help market and sell your products more effectively.
As Chief Culinary Officer, Ron DeSantis is Hungry Planet’s culinary voice, advocating and leading customer-centric food innovation and execution. Ron provides leadership and support for Hungry Planet in recipe and menu development, new product R&D, and leads a culinary team to create a competitive advantage.
Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis is at heart a passionate culinarian. In his 25-year career at the CIA, Ron taught several courses including a 4-year stint running a full-service teaching restaurant, the CIA’s flagship 4-star Escoffier Restaurant. While at the CIA, Ron was promoted to associate dean for curriculum and developed curriculum for degree programs and for professional education. Following Ron’s work as associate dean he accepted a position as Director of Education Services. Ron’s responsibilities were the planning and design of teaching kitchens and bakeshops. In 2005 Ron helped launch CIA Consulting, eventually rising to lead this consulting organization.
Ron’s primary responsibility was overseeing the production of over 14,000 meals each day at Yale. This leadership role included culinary concept design, development of innovative menus and cuisine and training of the culinary team. In addition to undergraduate dining, Ron also oversees food production for several university restaurants, cafes, C-stores, and Yale Catering. As the first Certified Master Chef to enter college & university dining, Ron has changed the format for delivering students meals. His approach has been to think and act like a great independent restaurant in a multi-operational institutional environment.
A 1981 CIA alumnus, Ron has received many citations during his professional career, including the highly regarded certification as a master chef (C.M.C.) by the American Culinary Federation (ACF). In 2010 Ron co-authored “Modern Batch Cookery” with Certified Master Chef Victor Gielisse, DBA. Ron also holds a master’s in business administration (MBA) from Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Tony Treadway is the President and Founder of Creative Energy Group, Inc. With 29-years of experience in the food industry, Tony Treadway offers deep insights into the food manufacturing, CPG, and foodservice industries. An expert in building cult brands, his team of professionals serve a variety of ingredient providers and foodservice chains. His firm specializes in research, brand development, content development, media, digital, social, and public relations.
As the food industry looks toward a post-pandemic marketplace, he will share his insights into key trends that will affect suppliers and opportunities that are emerging for the spice industry. For more information about Tony’s company, Creative Energy Group, visit https://creativeenergy.agency/food/.
Dr. Elizabeth Sloan, Ph.D. is President of Sloan Trends and a contributing Editor for Food Technology Magazine. For 27 Years, Sloan Trends has been focused on identifying emerging opportunities, issues and creating successful business-building ideas for U.S. and global food/beverage, foodservice, dietary supplement/OTC/pharma, ingredient, and commodity board marketers.
Dr. Sloan served as Editor-in-Chief of McCall’s magazine and Asst. Editor-in-Chief of Good Housekeeping magazine, each with a readership of more than 35 million women per month. She was also the Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute, managing the laboratories that reviewed consumer products for the Good Housekeeping Seal as well as the editorial pages of the magazine. The 1st Director of the Institute was Dr. Harvey Wiley, the Founder of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
She was Senior Vice President and International Director of Food and Nutrition for Hill and Knowlton Public Relations operating in 40 countries. She received two John W. Hill Awards for excellence in public relations for Kraft’s Fat-Free introductory program and Wendy’s International.
She was the first Scientific Director of the Am. Assoc. of Cereal Chemists; Editor-in-Chief of Cereal Foods World and Cereal Chemistry and Manager of Nutrition Communications and Technical Services for General Mills, Inc.
Dr. Sloan has written over 550 articles on consumer trends and food/nutrition marketing; co-authored two college textbooks on nutrition. She has served as trends/marketing columnist for Flavor & the Menu, Food Business International, Food Engineering, Processed Prepared Foods, and Food Product Development.
Dr. Sloan holds a Ph.D. in food science and nutrition/journalism and mass communication from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. degree in food technology from Rutgers University.
Simone Cormier is the National Spice Coordinator for Allegro Coffee Company, a subsidiary of Whole Foods Market. As the National Spice Coordinator, Simone sources spices from sustainable partners throughout the world, identifies flavor and food trends, develops all spice-related products (including creating exclusive seasoning blends), and leads the implementation of the spice program throughout Whole Foods Market. She oversees inventory and purchasing and sets pricing. Simone also handles sales of the products, both within WFM and with many external vendors. The Allegro spice program is 99% certified organic, which entails a completely different way of handling sourcing, ingredients used in blends, and documentation. Simone has seven years of experience in reverse-engineering conventional seasoning blends into certified organic formulations. She also conducts Whole Foods food safety and responsible sourcing audits of suppliers internationally.
Simone was on the Board of Directors for the American Spice Trade Association for six years and served as ASTA President 2018-2019. She is also on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Research Chefs Association’s magazine “Culinology.”
When she’s not sourcing exotic spices, Simone can be found exploring her love of travel, and great food and wine. She also writes educational content about spices and has taught classes about spices. She has a rare combination of expertise in food, cooking, food trends, spices, the spice industry, and its history, and spirits. She is adept in traveling globally – including developing nations as a solo voyager, all the while looking stylish and making many new friends along the way. Her penchant for learning languages has definitely been a boon! Check out her short documentary on black pepper on Youtube, The Life of Spice. Stay tuned for her second episode, featuring cardamom in Guatemala.
The Role of Spices & Herbs on Diet Quality and Public Health
In the midst of the global pandemic, health is on the mind of consumers now more than ever. Spices and herbs have incredible potential to enhance health and well-being both through their direct impact on specific health outcomes and the role of spices to promote healthy eating. The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recognizes the value of using spices to help consumers flavor food with less sodium, added sugars and saturated fatty acids. Spices are also a great way to promote consumption of a healthy diet full of vegetables, plant-based proteins, lean protein, and whole grains; especially now when consumers are cooking more at home. Furthermore, a growing body of scientific evidence is showing that spices can directly impart a variety of beneficial physiological effects. Join this session to learn the latest on the science of spices and health.
About our speakers:
Moderator: Brian E. Farkas, Ph.D, Chief Science Officer, McCormick & Company
Panel: Hamed Faridi, Ph.D, Executive Director, McCormick Science Institute and Dr. Guy H. Johnson, Senior Advisor, McCormick Science Institute (MSI)
Brian Farkas is McCormick’s Chief Science Officer. In his role, he leads the company’s global R&D organization and directs its strategy and execution. Dr. Farkas is also responsible for enterprise-wide thought leadership in product and packaging development and the implementation of McCormick’s artificial intelligence platform, SAGETM.
Prior to joining McCormick in March 2020, Dr. Farkas served as head of the Department of Food Science at Purdue University, where he was responsible for setting the vision, direction, and managing operations for the program. There, he advanced the department in numerous areas including human gut microbiome, thermal processing, and fermentation sciences.
Dr. Farkas started his academic career at North Carolina State University in 1994 as an Assistant Professor of Food Engineering in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences. As an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor, he taught and conducted research on the transport phenomena associated with food and beverage processing.
Dr. Farkas holds a Bachelor of Science in Food Science from the University of Delaware, as well as a Master of Science in Food Engineering and a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering from the University of California, Davis.
Hamed Faridi is renowned as an innovative food industry leader, business executive, strategist, and board director. He is a visionary leader who conceives and implements innovative approaches – often using technology – to create and sustain business growth in the highly competitive food manufacturing industry.
Hamed has served on boards of directors of several organizations including Maryland University of Integrative Health, St. Joseph Medical Center, and the International Association of Cereal Chemists. He has been a director and president of both the Flavor & Extract Manufacturers Association and the American Association of Cereal Chemists. He has served on the partnership committee of a McCormick joint venture and on the advisory boards of the food science departments of four different universities.
Hamed retired in 2020 as the Chief Science Officer at McCormick & Company – a $5.6B global manufacturer and marketer of flavors, spices, seasonings and condiments to the entire food industry.
Hamed has been recognized numerous times for his lifetime of dedication to the field of food science. His awards include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, The Ohio State University Harris Award, the “Upwardly Mobile” Outstanding Leadership Award, the FEMAs Distinguished Service Award and the Kansas State University Outstanding Alumni Award. He is a Fellow of IFT and AACC.
Prior to McCormick, Hamed held a progression of more responsible R&D roles at the Nabisco Company. Earlier he spent four years on the food science faculty at Washington State University. He has published six books and dozens of papers.
Hamed earned his MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and his PhD and MS in food science from Kansas State University.
Since December 2020, he is the founder of Faridi Strategy Group LLC and serves as the Executive Director of the McCormick Science Institute.
Dr. Guy H. Johnson is Senior Advisor to the McCormick Science Institute (MSI), which is dedicated to advancing scientific knowledge on the health benefits of culinary spices and herbs. MSI has funded more than 30 clinical trials that have investigated the ability of spice and herbs to impart beneficial physiological effects or improve diet quality. He is also principle of Johnson Nutrition Solutions LLC, a nutrition-oriented consulting firm that provides industry and professional organizations with comprehensive support for nutrition-related communications, scientific and regulatory initiatives.
Prior to founding Johnson Nutrition Solutions LLC, Guy was vice president of nutrition for Kellogg USA. Dr. Johnson’s background also includes extensive experience in applied nutrition science. From 1989 to 1998 he was director of nutrition and labeling services for The Pillsbury Company and before that he was director of infant nutrition for Gerber Products Company. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Johnson, a fellow of the American Society of Nutrition and the Institute of Food Technologists, earned a B.S. in food science and a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ASTA Online 2021 “Spice Up ASTA” Cooking Demonstration and Contest Watch all 11 videos from the culinary contestants!
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 – Impact of Pandemic on Spice Industry Operations |
Opening Remarks
ASTA President, Larry Lichter
Navigating Transportation Logistics Throughout the Pandemic
The spice industry continues to face massive upheaval in moving products around the globe. From unprecedented port congestions to rail and trucking issues, logistics have never been more complicated. This session feature expert analysis on understanding and navigating these transportation logistics.
About our speakers:
Kay Lohse, Managing Director, ICL Internationale Commodity Logistik GmbH
Judy Ma, Corporate Global Logistic Manager, Harris Freeman & Co., Inc.
Kay Lohse is Managing Director of ICL Internationale Commodity Logistik GmbH (ICL), a Hamburg based logistics company. He focuses on following the trends in worldwide trade. He closely monitors the situation in the liner shipping industry and provides expertise and a diverse and highly specialized spectrum of services related to the supply chain. As an industry veteran, he has vast experience and a robust, regionally powerful network.
Kay started his career in Hamburg, working for terminal operator HHLA, and later joined shipping agent Paul Guenther, representing other shipping lines including Sealand Service Inc. He started with Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) in 1994. NKG is the world’s leading green coffee service group. With 46 companies in 28 countries, the group has a strong presence in most coffee-producing countries and important import markets, offering a broad range of quality services and products along the green coffee value chain. In 1999, Kay was appointed Managing Director of ICL, a company of NKG.
Kay Lohse was born on the 10th of January 1968 in Pinneberg, near Hamburg, Germany. Kay graduated with a Bachelor of Professional Transport Management and Operations in Hamburg in 1996. Alongside his native language, Kay Lohse speaks English fluently.
Judy Ma is the Corporate Global Logistic Manager of Harris Freeman & Co., Inc. She has 26-year experience and in-depth industry knowledge in Import & Export, Shipping, Intermodal, Drayage, Warehousing at both international and local levels.
Harris Freeman is the parent company of Harris Spice. With 35 companies in 10 countries, Harris Freeman/Jayanti is a diversified group strongly presented globally in spice, tea, coffee, instant and ready to drink beverage, geotextile, agricultural and horticultural packaging products.
Judy holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Donghua University (formerly China Textile University). She started her career in establishing and running the brand new import and export operations along with another colleague at Shanghai Kai Kai Group Ltd., successfully elevated the group’s core apparel business from domestic to the international level.
Three years later, she joined Harris Freeman & Co., Inc., located in Anaheim, California. Over her tenure of 23 years at Harris Freeman, supporting the group’s US and global operations, she spans her in-depth expertise in a variety of commodities of spice, tea, coffee, instant and ready to drink beverage, geotextile, agricultural and horticultural packaging products, etc. in areas of Logistics, Import & Export, FDA, Customs, Classification and Tariffs, USDA, C-TPAT, and Insurance.
Spice Supply Chain Disruption in the Midst of Unprecedented Demand
This panel will explore the state of the spice supply chain with respect to the global pandemic. While demand for spices has been off the charts, sourcing and logistics challenges continue to linger. Meanwhile, ongoing travel restrictions have presented unique challenges for all aspects of the business, including sales, procurement, and quality. The panelists will take questions from the audience and discuss the following key issues that are top of mind for the spice industry:
* Navigating surges in demand amidst delays, logistics challenges, and issues at the port
* Recommendations on inventory management
* Sourcing challenges during the pandemic
* Impact of travel restrictions and social distancing
* Lessons learned from COVID-19
About our speakers:
Moderator: Peter Sayia, Partner, A.A. Sayia & Co.
Panel:
Igor Estraykh, Vice President, Procurement, Old Thompson
Ahmet Kaynar, General Manager, Birlik A.S.
Tyler Huenink, Procurement Director, Silva International
Melissa Roslawski, Strategic Account Director, Olam Spices
Igor Estraykh is the head of global procurement and supply chain at Olde Thompson, the largest private-label spice manufacturing firm in the United States. In his current role, Igor is responsible for the company’s overall procurement strategy, commodity risk management, supply chain optimization, supply chain sustainability, and supporting new product introductions. Igor led the procurement and supply chain integration efforts for the Olde Thompson acquisition of Gel Spice in 2020. He has extensive supply chain, procurement, and operations experience in the consumer goods industry including with Pinnacle Foods and General Electric. Prior to joining the corporate sector, Igor served as an active-duty US Army Special Forces officer with multiple deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Eastern Europe. He is currently a doctoral candidate in business administration at Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School, and holds a master’s in business administration from Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School, master’s in international relations from Troy University, and a bachelor of arts in economics and psychology from Ripon College.
Tyler Huenink has been working with Silva International since 2010. As the Director of Procurement, he oversees inventory management, contracting with raw material vendors, and working on new/product new vendor development. Silva International’s main products are dehydrated vegetables along with other dried fruits, herbs, and spices. Tyler graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a Finance minor from Trinity Christian College located outside of Chicago IL.
Throughout Melissa Roslawski’s ten years with Olam, she has been on an adventure serving as a National Account Manager from being an Onsite Resource at a customer’s headquarters, to Strategic Account Manager, and now Strategic Account Director. Prior to Olam, she worked at Hormel Foods.
Melissa is passionate about re-imagining our agricultural ingredients. She has helped reshape how supply chains look by combining creativity, passion, and drive to innovate and inform consumers where their food comes from. Melissa serves on many organizations in her community and sits on the ASTA Membership Outreach Committee. At Olam, she chairs G.R.O.W. an employee resource group driven to increase Olam women leaders.
Peter Sayia has been a partner with A.A. Sayia & Co., Inc. since 2008. Prior to joining the family business, Peter spent 7 years as a fixed income trader with JP Morgan. As a Vice President he was based first in New York, then overseas in London and Hong Kong covering global debt markets. At A.A. Sayia Peter is responsible for sourcing all varieties of seeds and red peppers working with suppliers from Europe to Asia.
Peter has served on ASTA’s Annual Program Planning Committee, Arbitration Board, and Government Relations Committee. Peter is currently serving as a Director with ASTA’s Board of Directors.
Peter graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Leadership Roundtable Breakout Discussion
Come prepared to participate in this moderated breakout session about leadership in these challenging times. This session will split participants into small group discussions to talk about motivation and productivity in the virtual world, supporting employee’s mental health, and framing our future after COVID-19. This session is a great opportunity to connect with others in the industry and discuss big-picture leadership challenges.
Unlike educational sessions, participants are unmuted during breakout discussions since these sessions are designed for attendees to contribute to the discussion.
About our Moderator:
Doug Erwin is a serial entrepreneur turned nonprofit executive and personal development coach and podcast host. He currently works at the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) as the SVP of Entrepreneurial Development where he is committed to growing Northern Nevada’s startup and technology ecosystem. As a coach, he supports entrepreneurs and executives as they embark upon their own personal journeys of creation. As the host of the podcast Growth Pioneers, he helps tell the stories of innovators making positive impacts on their companies, communities, and personal lives.
Prior to joining EDAWN, Doug co-founded six companies in different industries including eCommerce, software development, medical diagnostics, and consumer products manufacturing. He has experienced first-hand the highs and lows of building companies, managing investors and partners, and the challenges associated with balancing family, self, and career.
Doug was an Insignia Member of the Entrepreneurs Organization with 13 years in the organization splitting time between the San Francisco and Reno chapters. He helped launch TEDx Reno and was a curator for its first 3 years. He currently sits on the board of the Reno/ Tahoe EO Chapter, the City of Reno Arts and Culture Commission, and formerly on the Discovery Museum.
Ask the Expert – Trade and Tariff, Forced Labor, GSP
This “Ask the Expert” session is an informal opportunity for members to raise questions and discuss topics of interest on trade and tariff-related issues. The expert – Shawn Jarosz of TradeMoves – will not provide a formal presentation, but rather be available to answer questions and engage in dialogue with attendees about hot topics in trade. Come prepared with specific questions on trade, tariffs, GSP, or forced labor.
About our Expert:
Shawn Marie Jarosz is the Founder of TradeMoves LLC and its Chief Trade Strategist. Shawn has over 25 years working with US companies and industry associations on their cross-border trade priorities. She advises clients on export strategies and import compliance matters and provides tools and resources in support of global supply chains. As an export expert, Shawn helps seasoned US exporters access new markets, remove barriers to their American-made products, and capitalize on the benefits of cross-border trade. As an import expert, Shawn is a licensed US Customs broker since 2007 and a Certified Customs Specialist. Shawn has been a cleared advisor to the US Trade Representative on trade issues affecting US small businesses (Industry Trade Advisory Committee for Small and Minority Businesses/ITAC 9) since 2008, and food and agriculture exporters (Agriculture Trade Advisory Committee for Processed Foods) from 2007 until 2015.
Associate Group Town Hall Members only
ASTA Executive Director, Laura Shumow and Board Associate Group Representative, Sebnem Karasu
This is Town Hall offers ASTA Associate members the opportunity to meet and raise issues for discussion.
Thursday, May 13, 2021 – Food Safety, Climate Change and Sustainability |
Opening Remarks
ASTA President, Larry Lichter
Leveraging Weather Analytics to Predict the Impact of Climate Change on Spices
Weather variability impacts agriculture across multiple fronts. Risk increases. Quality and quantity are impacted. Traditional farming practices are challenged. Adapting to this new environment requires focused and timely information. Join this session to learn about how weather analytics can be leveraged to predict where and how to grow spices to reduce risk and promote quality.
About our speaker:
John Corbett, Ph.D., agricultural climatologist and aWhere, Inc. Co-Founder and CEO. John focuses his work on applied high resolution and in-time ‘digital-agriculture’ information through a scalable, enterprise, agricultural intelligence platform. aWhere’s platform includes output from a daily observed and forecast agronomic weather conditions engine providing in-season and in-time localized agronomic detail to farmers while in aggregate, tracking production across whole regions. These big data information are available for integration into client workflows via a variety of common standards. With 25+ years working in agriculture, John leads a team of software experts and agricultural and data scientists leveraging technology for timely, location specific information delivering actionable insight across the agricultural value chain. aWhere monitors the impact of the increasingly variable weather across the agricultural earth and provides insight on risk and environmental trends. Prior to aWhere, John worked with Syngenta-Switzerland, Texas A&M- USA; with ICRAF – Kenya; and with CIMMYT – Mexico
Are Pesticides a Hazard Requiring a Preventive Control? How to Handle Potential Illegal Residues in FSMA Food Safety Plans
This session will explore the considerations companies must take into account when determining whether pesticides should be a hazard requiring a preventive control under FSMA. Depending on their specific circumstances, spice companies may decide either to include pesticides as a hazard requiring a preventive control in their food safety plans or not. The presentation will explain what preventive controls a spice company could have in place if it determines pesticides are a hazard. Conversely, if a spice company determines pesticides are not a hazard requiring a preventive control, a company should have scientific justification to support that decision and be prepared for the potential that FDA may not agree with the determination.
About our speaker:
Maile Gradison Hermida is a Partner at Hogan Lovells and also serves as ASTA’s General Counsel. She has considerable experience with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), having worked with numerous companies and trade associations on all aspects of the law since the day it was signed. She translates her in-depth knowledge of FSMA into practical solutions for companies working on implementation strategies. She also frequently presents trainings related to FSMA compliance and preparedness. Reflecting her deep involvement with all things FSMA, Maile is a Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) Lead Instructor for the Preventive Controls for Human Food training and an FSPCA Trainer of Trainers and Lead Instructor for the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) training.
Maile is known for helping companies become and remain compliant with regulations overseen by federal agencies such as the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She helps companies navigate tough situations involving product recalls, government inspections, and other enforcement actions such as Warning Letters and import detentions.
Maile also provides clients with advice on public policy issues and strategies for affecting regulatory change. She has vast experience advocating to FDA, including preparing comments on agency rulemakings. Additionally, Maile helps clients with food labeling requirements and development of label and advertising claims.
Maile is a frequent speaker and contributor to industry publications. Prior to joining us, she served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Charles F. Lettow of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Maile graduated with high honors from The George Washington University Law School, where she served as executive editor of The George Washington Law Review.
Panel Discussion on Science-Based Groupings for Spice Validation
The Food Safety Modernization Act requires spice companies to have validated preventive controls for Salmonella. Validations for spices are complicated by the number of spice products that companies produce. In order to reduce the number of validation studies a company needs to have for a given treatment method, spices can be grouped by like characteristics into science-based groupings. In this case, the validations are conducted for representative products that represent the potential “worst-case scenario” for each group. This panel discussion will address how spices can be grouped and what factors need to be considered for the selection of the representative products.
About our speakers:
Moderator: Laura Shumow, Executive Director, ASTA
Panel: Dr. Nate Anderson, Research Agricultural Engineer, Dr. Jim Dickson, Dickson Consulting and Professor, Iowa State University, FDA, Karim Khinouche, Founder & CEO, Novolyze, and Laure Pujol, Food Safety and Quality Expert, PhD, Novolyze
Dr. Dickson is currently a Professor in the Department of Animal Science and the Inter-Departmental Program in Microbiology at Iowa State University. Dr. Dickson’s research focuses on the control of bacteria of public health significance in foods of animal origin. Dr. Dickson has developed a predictive model to estimate the growth of salmonellae during the cooling of beef carcasses. This model was used during an evaluation of proposed USDA regulations, to determine the relative probability of salmonellae growth under a variety of cooling conditions. Dr. Dickson’s studies of bacterial attachment, carcass washing and sanitizing have been applied to animal processing environments, resulting in the development of an inexpensive, technology neutral process which is very effective in controlling enteric pathogens on animal carcasses. Dr. Dickson has been involved in a variety of training courses, including hosting four International Atomic Energy Agency training fellowships in his laboratory, and teaching the principles of meat microbiology and HACCP to food industry audiences in Japan. He also traveled to the People’s Republic of China and Singapore, evaluating meat processing systems. Dr. Dickson served on the National Academy of Science’s panel on review of the use of scientific criteria and performance standards for safe food, where he served as chair of the Meat and Poultry sub-committee.
Prior to his appointment at Iowa State University in 1993, he was employed by USDA-ARS as a Research Food Technologist and lead scientist of the Meat Safety Assurance Program, located at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE. Dr. Dickson was employed in the food industry for three years before joining USDA-ARS.
He is a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology, and is a Past President of the International Association for Food Protection. He is also active in the American Society for Microbiology and the Institute of Food Technologists.
Dr. Nate Anderson is a Research Agricultural Engineer at U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)\Office of Food Safety. He received his Ph.D. (2006), M.S. (1998) and B.S. (1996) degrees in Agricultural and Biological Engineering all from The Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Anderson’s current research focuses on validation of thermal and non-thermal methods of pasteurization and sterilization of foods, aseptic processing, and risk assessment. Dr. Anderson’s research group has investigated the efficacy of extrusion, baking, roasting and drying processes and atmospheric pressure plasma for microbial decontamination of low moisture foods. Dr. Anderson is an FDA Subject Matter Expert and routinely called upon to review pasteurization and sterilization processes and aseptic packaging technologies.
He has authored numerous publications and made many invited presentations at professional meetings, conferences and workshops. Dr. Anderson is a current IFT NPD Member at Large, an Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists (IFTPS) Board member, and serves in other administrative and scientific leadership positions for various professional organizations and food safety research programs.
Karim holds a Master of Science in Food Technology from Agrosup (Dijon, France) and a Master’s degree in business from Emlyon Business School. Karim started his career working for ETIA and quickly became the head of the Safesteril business unit, working in France, China and serving food processors around the world. He joined the ASTA in 2006 where he had since then the privilege to collaborate with spice and herb business operators, a sector he is particularly fond of. As the need for process validation and smarter process controls became more apparent, in 2012 Karim started a company, Novolyze, with a mission to help improve the Safety and Quality of Food Production Systems by leveraging new technologies, such as ready-to-use surrogates, IoT and cloud computing. Karim recently moved to Washington DC with his young family to begin building Novolyze US operations.
Laure Pujol is a Food Safety and Quality Expert at Novolyze. She has a PhD in Predictive Microbiology and Risk Assessment from ONIRIS & INRA in Nantes, France and a Food Engineering Diploma. As a Preventive Control Qualified Individual (PCQI), Laure is very experienced working with low water activity foods and has conducted a wide number of LawF food safety projects around the globe. She is an approved Process Authority of the Almond Board of California and an active member of the Low Water Activity Food Product Development Group at IAFP. Laure has been a member of ASTA since 2019, where she has joined the ASTA Validation Task Force. Her experience with spices includes the design and execution of kill step validation programs on mainstream technologies like steam pasteurization as well as the assessment of novel food processing systems for pathogen control.
Virtual Audits Roundtable Breakout Discussion
Companies are relying on virtual audits more and more due to travel limitations from the pandemic. Virtual audits are also being used by FDA in voluntary applications. Join ASTA’s Food Safety Committee in this group discussion which will explore the benefits and challenges involved in conducting virtual audits. This session will kick off with an update on the use of virtual audit within GSFI audit schemes. Next, the group will move into a dialogue about virtual audit technology, confidentiality concerns and the expectations for how this new approach will be used in the future.
Unlike educational sessions, participants are unmuted during breakout discussions since these sessions are designed for attendees to contribute to the discussion.
About our speaker:
LeAnn Chuboff is Vice President of Technical Affairs at Safe Quality Food Institute (SQF). She has over 30 years of foodservice experience specializing in supply chain food safety and quality assurance. LeAnn is responsible for the technical elements of the SQF program including the development, maintenance and technical support of the SQF Code and supporting materials. Prior to working at the SQF Institute, LeAnn worked for the National Restaurant Association Solutions as the Director of Science and Regulatory Relations. In this role, she was responsible for the technical accuracy of the ServSafe food safety program and developed program and services on food safety and food defense to fit with all segments of the restaurant industry. LeAnn has also worked for Long John Silver’s and Boston Market in corporate quality assurance where she developed food safety and vendor approval program. LeAnn graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Food Science and is active with many organizations including GFSI, AFDO and the International Association for Food Protection. She sits on several committees in an effort to enhance policy and develop programs for the industry to help protect public health.
The SQF Institute is recognized by retailers and foodservice providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system. The SQF Program is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and links primary production certification to food manufacturing, distribution and agent/broker management certification. Administered by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), SQF benefits from continual retailer feedback about consumer concerns.
Sustainability Roundtable Breakout Discussion
Join ASTA members in this breakout session which will foster dialogue between spice industry colleagues about what sustainability means to their companies. Hear from peers in the spice industry about their companies’ sustainability initiatives and share your own.
Unlike educational sessions, participants are unmuted during breakout discussions since these sessions are designed for attendees to contribute to the discussion.
ASTA members invited to lead this discussion include:
Alfons van Gulick, Nedspice
James T. McKinley, Doug Jeffords/Nueva Kerala S.A
Greg Metschke, Griffith Foods
Suzanne Munson, Heifer International
Seth Petchers, Frontier Co-Op
Ursula Yvonne Rundgren, Nando’s Peri-Peri
Ask the Expert – FDA Inspections, FSMA Regulatory
This “Ask the Expert” session is an informal opportunity for members to raise questions and discussion topics of interest related to FDA inspections and FSMA implementation. ASTA’s General Counsel, Maile Hermida of Hogan Lovells, will not provide a formal presentation during this session, but rather be available to answer questions and engage in dialogue with attendees about hot topics related to food safety regulation. Come prepared with specific questions on FSMA and FDA inspection issues.
About our Expert:
Maile Gradison Hermida is a Partner at Hogan Lovells and also serves as ASTA’s General Counsel. She has considerable experience with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), having worked with numerous companies and trade associations on all aspects of the law since the day it was signed. She translates her in-depth knowledge of FSMA into practical solutions for companies working on implementation strategies. She also frequently presents trainings related to FSMA compliance and preparedness. Reflecting her deep involvement with all things FSMA, Maile is a Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) Lead Instructor for the Preventive Controls for Human Food training and an FSPCA Trainer of Trainers and Lead Instructor for the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) training.
Maile is known for helping companies become and remain compliant with regulations overseen by federal agencies such as the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She helps companies navigate tough situations involving product recalls, government inspections, and other enforcement actions such as Warning Letters and import detentions.
Maile also provides clients with advice on public policy issues and strategies for affecting regulatory change. She has vast experience advocating to FDA, including preparing comments on agency rulemakings. Additionally, Maile helps clients with food labeling requirements and development of label and advertising claims.
Maile is a frequent speaker and contributor to industry publications. Prior to joining us, she served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Charles F. Lettow of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Maile graduated with high honors from The George Washington University Law School, where she served as executive editor of The George Washington Law Review.
Ask the Expert – Organic Regulations
This “Ask the Expert” session is an informal opportunity for members to raise questions and discussion topics of interest on organic regulations. Come prepared with specific questions on organics.
About our Expert:
Gwendolyn Wyard is Vice President, Regulatory & Technical Affairs at the Organic Trade Association. Gwendolyn Wyard has been actively working in the organic industry for 25 years. She serves as the Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs for the Organic Trade Association (OTA) where she works on the development of policy strategy through regulatory engagement in the interest of OTA’s mission and its members. Prior to OTA Gwendolyn worked for Oregon Tilth where she served as the Technical Specialist in policy and technical review of materials for use in organic products. She holds a degree in Fermentation Science with a minor in Chemistry. Gwendolyn completed her certificate as an independent organic inspector through the International Organic Inspector’s Association (IOIA) in 1997 and has subcontracted for multiple certifiers inspecting a diverse range of operations. She also serves on the board for the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) and as an Advisory Council member for the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
ASTA Business Meeting Members only
ASTA thanks the following companies for their participation and generous support of ASTA Online 2021 |
|
Ruby
|
|
Platinum
|
|
Gold
|
|
Silver
|
|
| Bronze Bratney Companies Certified Laboratories Foreign Trade Services Imtech Steri AG Johanson Transportation Service Joma Plastics Engineering Karasu Consulting Kreyenborg Mold Rite Plastics/Weatherchem Napasol AG Novolyze Safesteril/ETIA |
