(L to R) David Ahlem of Hilmar Chese Company, Brian Perry of Perry's Ice Cream and Tom Arata of Ecolab stop by the office of Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) during Washington Conference. Members Make a Difference on Capitol Hill During Washington Conference Washington Conference opened yesterday with a lively keynote speech by Brad Fitch, president and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. After hearing Fitch’s advice on how to gain your congressman’s attention, more than 50 members traveled to Capitol Hill for congressional visits, undaunted by the taxi strike in Washington, D.C., that threatened to slow their progress.
Trade News: TPP, T-TIP Negotiations Continue, but Challenges Remain Ministers from countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations met in Ottawa, Canada, earlier this month, but they made no progress with Japan on dairy, and Canada still is unwilling to negotiate on market access. Talks also continued between the United States and European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). The United States is seeking full tariff elimination, but the EU has signaled that it is seeking protection for sensitive agriculture products. Regulatory cooperation efforts also hit a snag. Click on headline to read more.
IDFA and NMPF File Comments on FDA’s Intentional Adulteration Rule IDFA and the NMPF together have submitted extensive comments on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule “Focused Mitigation Strategies To Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration.” The rule would require registered domestic and foreign food facilities to address hazards that may be intentionally introduced. “While IDFA and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) support FDA’s efforts, we also want FDA to be mindful that the proposed rule is the first of its kind,” said Clay Detlefsen, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and counsel. “We want to make sure that FDA is aware of the success that voluntary efforts ...
Codex Renews Efforts on Processed Cheese, Considers New Whey Permeate Standard Two IDFA staff members traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, this week to attend the 37th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United Nation’s international food standard-setting body. Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president, and John Allan, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards, said the Commission took action on two items relevant to dairy. It agreed to continue work on a processed cheese standard, which IDFA opposes, and to consider developing a new standard for whey permeate.
Kayanush Aryana LSU Professor to Receive IDFA Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing Kayanush Aryana, Ph.D., received the 2014 IDFA Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing this week in recognition of his research accomplishments on functional dairy foods. A professor in dairy foods technology at Louisiana State University’s School of Animal Sciences, Aryana conducted research that helped to foster the creation and marketing of novel dairy products with health benefits.
Members: Test New Energy Benchmarking Tools for Milk, Ice Cream Plants EPA released this week its latest draft of ENERGY STAR® Energy Performance Indicators (EPI) for benchmarking the energy performance of fluid milk and ice cream processing plants. IDFA and the ENERGY STAR® program are asking dairy companies to test and evaluate the draft tools. Members may log in to download the tools. The EPIs for ice cream and fluid milk reflect the request from the dairy industry to evaluate the impact of climate and weather on energy use in dairy processing plants, according to Walt Tunnessen, national program manager for ENERGY STAR® who was a featured speaker at IDFA’s Regulatory RoundUP.