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Point of View “Let me summarize three
good reasons why IAFP must maintain
a strong international focus” As I write my first column, I’m flying home over the Pacific Ocean after participating in the first meeting of the New Zealand Association for Food Protection, which was held in conjunction with the New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology in Auckland. We just passed the International Date Line traveling east, so I have just gone back in time a bit but my thoughts are definitely on the future. A few weeks ago, I also attended the Brazilian Association for Food Protection meeting in São Paulo. My recent participation in a couple of our inter-national affiliate meetings has put me in a reflective mood about our Association, our Association’s name (the International Association for Food Protection), and our future. However, before I jump into my first monthly message, I want to pause for a moment and thank Jeff Farber for his leadership as president during the past year. It has been a real pleasure working with Jeff and our Association has benefited from his service. When Jeff handed me the gavel at the end of our Annual Meeting in Calgary, we continued a long-standing tradition of passing executive duties from one board member to another as part of an orderly and well-planned transition. As I take the seat as IAFP’s 91st president, I am humbled to have my name added to those who have served the Association before me in this manner and I am reminded that the greatness of IAFP is much bigger than any one person. Presidents and executive boards come and go, but the ideals that IAFP represents endure over time. It is our rich heritage and the collective efforts of all of our members and staff that truly make IAFP the wonderful Association it is. Now, this brings me to the topic of my first message – the importance of IAFP maintaining a strong inter-national focus. You might ask yourself, “Why should we be concerned about having a strong international focus when we still have opportunities right here in North America?” Well, that’s true, but when it comes to food safety, things aren’t really that simple. Let me summarize three good reasons why IAFP must maintain a strong international focus. First, having a strong international focus is important, because it’s the right thing to do. Simply put, the global burden of foodborne disease is too high. The World Health Organization estimates that each year, unsafe food makes at least two billion people ill worldwide. Think about this, that’s a staggering one third of the global population. Many of these individuals become seriously ill and many die due to unsafe food. In fact, the WHO estimates that worldwide, 2 million deaths occur annually from diarrhea, caused mainly by contaminated food and/or water. Now I wonder who among us would say that this is good enough. And lest you think that this is a problem only in developing countries, you don’t have to look too far to see that foodborne disease is a substantial public health burden in developed countries too. In the US alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that each year diseases caused by food may result in 325,000 serious illnesses resulting in hospitalizations, 76 million cases of gastrointestinal illnesses, and up to 5,000 deaths. Foodborne disease is a worldwide problem, which can benefit from collaboration, standardized approaches, and common solutions. Second, having a strong inter-national focus is important, because the food supply is becoming more global. Trends in the global production and distribution of food represent new challenges to food safety. As our global community expands, the business of moving food from the farm to the dinner table has become increasingly complex. Food is being distributed further than ever before; sometimes from one distant country to another, and foodborne disease outbreaks have the potential of being widespread. This trend is occurring worldwide. According to the United Nations, certain food imports, such as high value foods, have increased not only in developed countries, but in developing countries too. Next time you sit at the dinner table to eat a well-balanced meal, pause to think about where the various products on the table may have come from. There’s a good chance you’re enjoying a meal that originated in many different parts of the world. The hazards in the food supply are not respecters of countries, or borders, so when it comes to food safety solutions, neither should we. When other countries win battles in the fight against foodborne disease, we all win. Third, having a strong inter-national focus is important, because it’s part of our heritage and mission. Having an international focus has always been part of the spirit of our association, even when it was founded almost a century ago. In fact, our very first member list of 1912 includes members from the USA, Canada, and Australia. IAFP’s founding members knew that there were common public health challenges shared worldwide that needed common solutions. Today, IAFP has members in 54 countries around the world, and very importantly, our stated mission is Toprovide food safety professionalsworldwide with a forum to exchange information on protecting the food supply. Helping advance food safety world-wide is what we stand for and the main reason we exist. So, what is IAFP doing to fulfill our mission? Well, in addition to already well-established programs, such as the distribution of our journals to 69 different countries around the world and our Annual Meeting that truly has international attendance, our strategic plan calls for an even greater emphasis on our international focus. For example, on November 30 and December 1, 2006, we will hold our second European symposium in Barcelona, Spain entitled Innovations in Food Safety Management. Our hopes are to hold international meetings on a more frequent basis, wherever and whenever they make sense, to allow for even greater regional participation. Accordingly, the Executive Board has developed and approved guiding principles for holding international meetings. In addition, knowing that students are our future scientists with tomorrow’s food safety solutions, we have increased the number of travel scholarships for international students to attend our Annual Meetings. Also, because Affiliates are the backbone of the Association, our strategic plan calls for assisting in the establishment of even more international Affiliates in the near future. In recent years, thanks to the hard work of many dedicated members, we have estab-ished international Affiliates in New Zealand, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Korea, and Mexico. And last but not least, realizing that precious resources are required to do many of the great things we still need to do, we are actively spreading the good news of our vision with a new promotional DVD in hopes of getting more contributions to the IAFP Foundation Fund. During the coming year, I’m sure you’ll hear more from us on what we’re doing to advance food safety worldwide and maintain a strong international focus. Please join us in doing your part, whether big or small. Together, we can make a difference and improve the quality of life around the world. P.S. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please let me know. You can e-mail me at frank.yiannas@disney.com. Until next month, thanks for reading.
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