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Bill Marler, guest instructor for the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations, is offering to give a book to each new person who subscribes to his blog (up to 200 hardcover books).  Just subscribe here and email Mr. Marler your address at bmarler@marlerclark.com.

The book, Poisoned, is a great read.  So is Bill Marler's blog. Win Win.

Seminar: "Taking Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Training Beyond the Borders of the US with MSU as a Global Grant University”

Dr. Cholani Weebadde, assistant professor in the Department of Horticulture, will speak on Thursday, November 17^th  at 4:10 pm in A149 PSSB, Michigan State University. Dr. Weebadde's international work involves "building capacity in developing countries on agricultural development related issues, collaborative research project and program management, team building and human resource development, and institutional development and networking."  Her research areas include plant breeding and genetics and molecular breeding and genomics.  She conducts training programs in agricultural biotechnology, environmental biosafety and food safety, intellectual property rights, and technology transfer.  Dr. Weebadde earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka and her doctorate from MSU.

 

Symposium: The Role of Public and Private Regulation in Detecting and Responding to Foodborne Disease Outbreaks

A symposium will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on November 21, 2011, 1:30 to 4:30pm. In this final event, a multidisciplinary team will evaluate and compare the current systems for detecting and responding to foodborne outbreaks in the U.S. and the European Union. In the context of recent, produce-related foodborne outbreaks in the EU and the US, the team will examine and compare the respective approaches, assessing challenges in surveillance, detection, trace-back and identification of a contaminated food item. Finally, we will consider lessons learned from recent outbreaks by examining issues of public health, responsibilities of industry, and comparisons of regulatory frameworks.

Those speaking include;

— Dr. Jeri Barak-Cunningham, Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. "Fresh produce – no longer surprising but now a major source of foodborne illness." 

—  Dr. Robert Tauxe, Deputy Director, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, US CDC. "The cycle of public health:  Can we detect, investigate,and control foodborne outbreaks faster?"

— Dr. Jordi Serratosa-Vilageliu, EFSA Liaison Officer at FDA.  "Improving public health decision making with tools of risk analysis."

To register, please send an email to Lorna Zach (lzach@engr.wisc.edu) with your name, affiliation, and email contact information. A webcast may be available.

2nd EFLA EU-US Food Law Conference

The European Food Law Association (“EFLA”) 2nd EFLA EU-US Food Law Conference, "Food
Safety
 Regulations 
and 
International Trade
 of
 Food," will be held on October 24, 2011.  A copy of the conference brochure is available here.

Public Health Law Research Annual Meeting

Public Health Law Research is holding the 2012 Public Health Law Research Annual Meeting, "Public Health Law: Targets of Opportunity," January 18-20, 2012, in New Orleans. The conference will highlight research that provides evidence about how law can be used to improve population health; abstracts are being accepted until November 15, 2011.

Summary of Key Provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act

Image via WikipediaThe FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011, amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to shift the focus of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from primarily reacting to food safety problems to prevention.

A summary of key new provisions and their impact is available on the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations website here.

Still Time to Enroll in Summer Academy on Global Food Law & Policy

There are only five places left at the upcoming 3rd Summer Academy on Global Food Law & Policy planned from 25 till 29 July, Lake Como, Italy.

In the keynote speech David Byrne, the former EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, will present his views about the future of EU and international food regulation and the role public authorities should play in nutritional issues. Others covers topics such as the past, present, and future of the WTO SPS Agreement, the challenge of regulatory compliance with national and transnational food & beverages regimes, and Codex Alimentarius: Waste of time or food deliberate democracy? and more.

More information is available here.