The 99-year old International Association of Food Protection starts its four-day annual meeting today at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Food Safety News is an exhibitor at the meeting, and attendees are encouraged to stop by and visit us. While you are there you can also check out both the Food Illness Outbreak Database (www.outreakdatabase.com) and RealRawMilkFacts.com.

FSN-postcard-featured.jpgfsn-booth1-featured.jpgIAFP was formed in October 1911 in Milwaukee, WI by 35 men from Australia, Canada, and the United States who were concerned about improving the quality of milk.  It was originally known as the International Association of Dairy and Milk Inspectors, and made variations in its name twice before settling on its current moniker in 1999.

In addition to its many exhibitors, the IAFP 2010 program is a long one.  A sampling of those expected to make news at the event are:

-Frank Burns, Kathleen Lawlor and Mangesh Palekar, speaking on FDA Regulations for Bottled Water Beverages and featuring Henry Kim from FDA.

– Bob Hirst, International Bottled Water Association, speaking on Formulating Water Beverages for Safety and Stability and featuring Wilfredo Ocasio from the National Food Laboratory in Livermore, CA.

-Robert Dickey, from FDA’s division of seafood science and technology/chemical hazards speaking on marine and seafood toxins.

-Peter Ben Embarek, World Health Organizations Department of Food Safety on Community Food Risks in SE Asia.

These are but a sampling of the breath and depth of the speakers at IAFP this week.

IAFP’s annual meeting is said to be the leading event of its kind concerned with protection of the world food supply.   It expects over 1,800 of the top industry, academic and government food safety professionals to attend.  It attracts a broad mix of professionals in quality control, processing operations, regulatory inspections, consulting groups, risk assessment, research and development, microbiological research, plant management, technical services, and HACCP management.