The AFDO Audio Podcast AFDO Association of Food and Drug Officials

We interviewed Healthy People co-chair Ernest Jullian about the Summit and it's progress.
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, more than 160 people focused on food safety continued to move the needle on actionable steps to decrease foodborne illness. For two and half days last week, meeting both in person and virtually, key subject matter experts and leaders continued the conversation while updating 2020 recommendations and developing new ones. 
Encouraging people to think outside of the box when it comes to changes needed to reduce foodborne illness continues to inspire change.  Attendees from all facets of food safety from academia to state program managers, the focus was on the collaboration and development of a reduction action plan that brings together all partners who have a stake in this priority. 

This AFDO podcast is with Mark Sestak, AFDO's 20-21 president. Sestak talks about his journey to the presidency and shares his priorities for AFDO this year. 

This week's AFDO Podcast addresses the impact of COVID-19 on bulk repackaging events that have become even more critical during the pandemic.We visited virtually with Topher Philgreen with Something to Eat in the Kansas City area, about adjustments that have allowed repackaging events to continue to support at risk families. In 2019, the Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO) pubished the Bulk Repacking of Non-Ready-to-Eat Dry Product for Charitable Distribution guide, providing a simplified set of standard operating practices designed to provide safe packing conditions. This guide is available at www.afdo.org/publications. 

The AFDO Podcast goes to the West Coast where the Oregon Department of Agriculture has developed COVID-19 response programs that will have a lasting impact. We visited virtually with Isaak Stapleton, Food Safety and Animal Health Program Director for the Oregon Department of Agriculture about Oregon’s Food Security and Farm Worker Safety.

A few weeks before the COVID-19 crisis hit, we interviewed Jerry Wojtala, Executive Director of International Food Protection Training Institute for IFPTI to learn more about the Institute in addition to the IFPTI Fellowship program.  The Fellowships are a unique, year-long program for food protection professionals who want to make a positive impact on the profession through association membership, advocacy, and applied leadership. This program takes a multifaceted approach incorporating three on-location week-long sessions, periodic webinars, and a mentor-guided research project. This year those poster sessions will be done virtually.

Do you know what IFPTI does? A few weeks before the COVID-19 crisis hit, we interviewed Jerry Wojtala, Executive Director of International Food Protection Training Institute or IFPTI. IFPTI builds competency-based solutions for public- and private-sector food protection professionals. This translates to custom-designed learning organized around curriculum frameworks aligned with specific workforce competencies.