What’s Shakin’ With Sodium & Food Safety: The Journey Continues
To help our customers learn the latest news on sodium reduction and food safety, Maple Leaf held an exciting symposium on Thursday, March 10, 2011. These two topics are relevant to everyone who works in the healthcare foodservice industry, and the day-long event drew over 100 attendees.
With top-notch speakers from across Canada, the day began by exploring “What’s shakin’ with sodium?” UBC professor Dr. Susan Barr, one of the members of the Sodium Working Group, set the context of the sodium problem in Canada – simply put, Canadians get more salt than they need. Dr. William Yan, the Director of the Bureau of Nutritional Science with the Food Directorate for Health Canada, presented an overview of Health Canada’s Sodium Reduction Initiative.
Colin Farnum, Senior Director of New Technologies & Innovations for Maple Leaf Foods, and Kevin Hashimoto, Director of Product Development for Canada Bread, presented information on the role of sodium in the packaged goods industry and the challenges with reducing salt. They highlighted Maple Leaf’s progress towards achieving the 2016 recommendations as set by the Sodium Reduction Initiative.
At lunch, the attendees had a chance to enjoy a delicious selection of NEW sodium-reduced products from Maple Leaf Foodservice, including Pork Chops Cacciatore, Turkey Sausage and Pepper Skewers, Turkey Pot Pie, and Asian Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry, all of which have less than 500 mg per serving.
In the afternoon, the distinguished presenters covered the continuing evolution of food safety. Dr. Bashir Manji, Executive Director of Food Safety and Recall from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) presented an informative seminar on the structure and an overview of the recall process, and the CFIA’s role. He was followed by Dr. Jeff Farber, the Director of Bureau of Microbial Hazards with the Food Directorate at Health Canada. Dr. Farber gave the audience an update on microbial food safety.
To explore food safety at Maple Leaf Foods, we then welcomed Steve Tsuyuki, Senior Director of Food Safety, to discuss Maple Leaf’s on-going food safety journey and the key lessons learned along the way. Dr. Peter Slade, the Senior Director of Technical Food Safety at Maple Leaf Foods then presented an overview entitled “Food Recalls: Past, Present and Future & Emerging Pathogens.”
Sodium and food safety. These two dynamic and important topics were fully explored by some of the best and brightest minds in the industry, and the attendees were left with an enriched knowledge and direction for the future. We’d like to thank all of the presenters for their dynamic and thought-provoking presentations, and the attendees for recognizing the importance of discussing these emerging issues.