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PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
Dr. John Kvenberg, FDA
I thought it was very interesting when I saw a show of hands of who is represented here. We hope that today's conference will be one where we can initiate a dialogue to get to the next phase or the level where we need to be in food safety in the area of apple juice products.
Taking you back to recent history, I think that with respect to apples there was obviously a shaking event in apple juice that caused the initial concern in food safety about fresh juice products. As a piece of this history, we will be hearing today a lot about the work that was done on the science and technology front at the Food and Drug Administration. We will also hear about the interacting with regulators at the State level; the work with the producers, the industry itself; and, very importantly, the interactions with the scientist and academicians that are also involved in tackling these issues.
Issues related to microbial food safety are often in the news and at the forefront of the publics' concerns. I would like to suggest that we are in the best of times and in the worst of times. The resources that are being devoted to protecting the public health in the area of microbial hazards have never been as focused as they are now. We are on the point of the curve of making significant strides in reducing the risk to food-borne pathogens in the food supply.
With that increased focus comes change. It is recognized that cider and apple juice production has a history in the United States that goes back before the formation of the United States, into our colonial times. The aim of this conference today is to provide useful scientific information to interested parties in this audience to help you get to the point where we can collectively improve the safety of apple juice production in the United States.
