Water Safety and Quality Professional Development Group

Mission Statement: To provide a forum to discuss items as to the role the safety and quality of water plays globally in the farm-to-table chain and to develop program topics and symposia for presentation at the IAFP Annual Meetings.

Next Meeting

August 2, 2020
Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland | Cleveland, Ohio

In conjunction with IAFP 2020

How to Join

Involvement in committees and professional development groups (PDGs) offers Members the opportunity to share a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Members of committees and PDGs are the architects of the Association structure. They plan, develop and institute many of the Association's projects, including workshops, publications and educational sessions. Technical challenges facing the food safety industry are discussed, examined and debated. Members may volunteer to serve on any number of committees or PDGs that plan and implement activities to meet the Association's mission.

Membership on a PDG is voluntary (not by appointment) and may vary from year to year.

IAFP Members can manage their PDG involvement by logging in to the IAFP Web site. At the Member Dashboard, click “Edit Profile.” Your profile has two tabs: Contact Info and Professional Info. Select the Professional Info tab and update the PDGs you would like to participate in. We highly recommend that you contact the PDG chairperson for each group to let them know you have joined their PDG.

Non-members can contact Didi Loynachan, dloynachan@foodprotection.org, for more information.

Minutes

2018 Board Response to Recommendations

  1. The Water PDG recommends more inclusion of sustainability practices across the board. Specifically we recommend that the Board encourage PDGs and Committees to include sustainability and resources conservation in their discussions and symposium topics.

    Board Response: Agree.

2017 Board Response to Recommendations

  1. Elisabetta Lambertini as Vice Chair for the Water Quality and Safety PDG.

    Board Response: Agree

  2. Schedule PDG meetings throughout the meeting rather than just on Sunday.

    Board Response: PDG meetings will be held on Sunday. Additional meeting time can be requested and scheduled through the IAFP office.

2016 Board Response to Recommendations

  1. Consider alternative times for some PDG meetings to minimize conflicting times. Some suggestions: lunch meetings, early morning, evening (before exhibit hall reception).

    Board Response: Sunday is traditionally the day for PDGs to meet. If a PDG wants to move to an alternative time, this can be requested.

  2. Publish or republish descriptions of areas covered by PDGs. Get updated areas of focus.

    Board Response: PDG mission statements are available online. We can group them together for easier access.

  3. Approve Phyllis Posy as Vice Chair.

    Board Response: Agree

2015 Board Response to Recommendations

  1. Rethink policy on IAFP taking no policy stances.

    Board Response: IAFP does not make policy statements or take policy positions. We provide information to food safety professionals who can then influence policy.

  2. Circulate names and emails of chairs and vice chairs of all PDGs to chairs of PDGs to facilitate collaborations on symposia and roundtables by early September 2015.

    Board Response: IAFP staff will do.

  3. Modify proposal format to facilitate multiple PDG organizers.

    Board Response: Staff will provide list of proposals to those PDGs supporting for PDG Chair to review and approve.

  4. Approve Samia Estassi as Vice Chair.

    Board Response: Agree.

2014 Board Response to Recommendations

  1. International positions on public policy, food safety, and regulations.

    Board Response: IAFP does not take positions on regulations or policy. We are an information sharing organization, not a trade association (trade associations typically lobby for certain policy or regulatory change).

  2. Posting a link to the ISO standards on the IAFP website.

    Board Response: This will be added as a link.

Webinars

  • The Role of Water Quality in Food Safety: Does Water Matter? - Part 3: Does Water Quality Matter to My Food Company?

    Jun 4, 2018

    An initiative of the Water Quality and Safety PDG of the International Association for Food Protection - where people who know and care about what water safety means to food safety gather and share their expertise.

    Part 1 gave the basics of EPA rules, drinking water monitoring, and disinfection.

    Part 2 described what hazards could be in compliant municipal drinking water. 

    Now In Part 3, learn what to do about it!

    First, University of Arizona’s Dr. Chuck Gerba explains the basics of Quantitative  Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) and how to determine your risk profile. EPA’s Ken Rotert highlights which EPA Rules and standards might impact food processing, and how to get information on your water supplier; Dr. Vince Hill of the CDC explains why we don’t hear much about water causing food contamination. Finally, hear valuable advice from Will Daniels, President, Produce Division, IEH Laboratories, with practical approaches to control your risk.

    This webinar is sponsored by the IAFP's Water Safety and Quality PDG, the Microbial Modeling & Risk Analysis PDG & Atlantium Technologies

    Download Slides

    Presenters

    • Chuck Gerba, Presenter Professor, Microbiology & Environmental Sciences, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dept., University of Arizona
    • Kenneth Rotert, Presenter Physical Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
    • Vincent Hill, Presenter Chief, Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    • Will Daniels, Presenter President, Produce Division, IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group
    • Phyllis Butler Posy, Moderator Vice President, Strategic & Regulatory Affairs, Atlantium Technologies

  • The Role Of Water Quality In Food Safety: Does Water - Part 2: What Could be in Municipal Water?

    Apr 30, 2018

    Sponsored by Atlantium Technologies and IAFP's Water Safety and Quality PDG 

    This webinar builds upon the regulatory and technological information covered in Part 1, and lays the foundation for how food processors can assess and mitigate risk, covered in Part 3.

    Hear from Dr. Shay Fout, recently retired EPA research microbiologist, about what indicators do and do not indicate, from Arizona State University’s leading researcher Prof. Paul Westerhoff about de-facto reuse, and how wet weather and variability can impact the quality of water used in food production, and from University of Calgary Prof.Norman Neumann for the latest on heat-resistant microbes and what they could mean to food processors.

    This webinar will provide an overview of emerging waterborne hazards that could impact food safety. We will specifically look at data and trends on microbial water quality, from the point of view of food processors that use water in their production processes. Issues addressed include:

    • What microbial hazards could be in incoming water (municipal water or private sources)?
    • What do indicators really indicate? Do they predict presence/absence of microbes of significance to food safety?
    • De facto reuse- when and where does it occur? How does wet weather impact municipal water and what can that mean for organisms of food safety significance?
    • What guarantees do we get from municipal treatment and monitoring?
    • Emerging issues: resistant and viable-but-not-culturable (VBNC) bacteria - what might they mean to food processors? 

    This webinar builds upon the regulatory and technological information covered in Part 1, and lays the foundation for how food processors can assess and mitigate risk, covered in Part 3.

    Hear from Dr. Shay Fout, recently retired EPA research microbiologist, about what indicators do and do not indicate, from Arizona State University’s leading researcher Prof. Paul Westerhoff about de-facto reuse, and how wet weather and variability can impact the quality of water used in food production, and from University of Calgary Prof.Norman Neumann for the latest on heat-resistant microbes and what they could mean to food processors.

    Slides

    Presenters

    • Elisabetta Lambertini. Moderator RTI International
    • Norman Neumann School of Public Health, University of Alberta
    • G. Shay Fout U.S. EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory
    • Paul Westerhoff Arizona State University

  • The Role Of Water Quality In Food Safety: Does Water Matter? Part 1:  Drinking Water Treatment 2018 Update: Regulations and Technology

    Apr 9, 2018

    Sponsored by Atlantium Technologies and IAFP's Water Safety and Quality PDG

    Heard lots of conflicting information about how safe your water supply is for use in food processing? Now hear it from the people who know: Ken Rotert of the EPA; Vincent Hill of the CDC; Nicholas Ashbolt of the University of Alberta and hear the industry perspective from Rajendra Gursahaney, Pepsi’s water engineering maven.

    Is all water is treated the same way? Is it always disinfected? What are the compliance standards and do all municipal water suppliers comply? Given the sampling frequency and locations, what do current sampling requirements actually provide? Where do chlorine CT's come from and what log reduction is provided in practice? What do leading companies do?

    This is a great opportunity to hear the straight story about water regulations and what they could mean to your food processing practices. 

    Speaker Biographies

    Download Slides

    Presenters

    • Nicholas Ashbolt School of Public Health, University of Alberta
    • Rajendra Gursahaney Pepsi Beverages Company
    • Vincent R. Hill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    • Kenneth Rotert United States Environmental Protection Agency
    • Phyllis Butler Posy, Moderator Atlantium Technologies

  • The Global Burden of Foodborne Disease - Results and perspectives of WHO’s Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG)

    Feb 9, 2016

    The WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group is providing estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases, according to age, sex and region, for a defined list of causative agents of microbial, parasitic, and chemical origin, thereby strengthening the capacity of countries to assess the burden of foodborne disease and increasing awareness and commitment for the implementation of food safety standards. These estimates provide valuable information for food safety professionals.

    This webinar is sponsored by Wageningen University, Marcel Zwietering, Leon Gorris, Arie Havelaar and an anonymous MMRA PDG Member.

    Webinar Slides

    View Webinar

    Presenters

    • Arie Hendrik Havelaar Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida
    • Marcel Zwietering, Moderator Wageningen University

  • Waterborne Pathogens: Issues from Fields to Table

    Jul 21, 2014

    This webinar will discuss how waterborne pathogens are introduced into water, their dissemination and persistence. Case studies, including restaurants, will be presented.

    Organized by the Water Safety and Quality PDG

    Presenters

    • Sharon C. Long University of Wisconsin

  • FDA-EPA Airline Water Ruling

    Aug 23, 2012

    Passenger airlines now must take steps to assure that water is taken from FDA approved watering points that meet the EPA drinking water standards. The speakers present the finer points of  the FDA/EPA Airline Water Ruling.

    Organized by the Water Safety and Quality PDG.

    Presenters

    • Cindy Mack Environmental Health Scientist, US EPA
    • Bruce Kummer Interstate Travel Program, US FDA

  • How to Assess Water-related Risks and Some Prevention Strategies for the Food Safety Professional

    May 16, 2012

    Every food safety professional wants to reduce the risk of waterborne contamination, whether using municipal water or a private water supply. This webinar, “How to assess water-related risks and some prevention strategies for the food safety professional,” shows how to assess your water-related risk and protect from waterborne contamination, with advanced UV technology and disinfection strategies. Dr. Gerba addresses the threats and risks, particularly of pathogens that have higher tolerance to chemicals and Phyllis Posy suggests possible solutions and explain when and how to measure and use UV technologies to improve your water safety.

    Organized by the Water Safety and Quality PDG.

    Presenters

    • Dr. Charles P. Gerba Professor, Dept. of Soil Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona
    • Phyllis Posy Vice President for Strategic and Regulatory Affairs, Atlantium Technologies