FDA requires faster food safety reporting

by The Associated Press

WASHINGTON September 8, 2009, 03:03 pm ET

Food makers must alert government officials of potentially contaminated products within 24 hours under a new rule designed to help federal regulators spot food safety issues sooner.
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday unveiled a new electronic database where manufacturers must notify the government if they believe one of their products is likely to cause sickness or death in people or animals.

Regulators said the database will help the FDA prevent widespread illness from contaminated products and direct inspectors to plants that pose a high safety concern.

"There's been a lag time; we learn about problems after people get sick," said Michael Taylor, senior adviser to the FDA's commissioner. "This is intended to inform us of contamination problems before people get sick."

The law creating the database was passed in 2007, after Congress criticized the FDA for its handling of safety problems with a range of foods and drugs.

The FDA has struggled since then to manage a spate of food-safety recalls, including national outbreaks of salmonella linked to peppers and peanut butter. President Barack Obama earlier this year pledged to improve the safety of the nation's food supply, after tainted peanut butter from a Georgia plant sickened hundreds of Americans, causing one of the largest food recalls in recent history.

"Working with the food industry, we can swiftly remove contaminated products from commerce and keep them out of consumers' hands," Taylor told reporters. Many companies already voluntarily submitted reports about possible contamination, but the new law "makes this a duty that all food facilities have," he added.

The food industry welcomed the new database, but the FDA must answer a number of questions about how it will work, according to a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, whose members include ConAgra Foods Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and Nestle USA Inc..

"As with any new system ... there are bound to be a number of issues to be resolved in the initial stages and we would hope that the agencies will take this into account," said spokesman Scott Openshaw.

FDA officials also plan to use the database to analyze national trends in food safety and will report their findings to the public.

The new reporting requirements apply to all U.S. facilities that are registered with the FDA to process, pack or hold food, with the exception of infant formula and dietary supplement makers, which have separate reporting requirements.

Source: NPR

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Chef Isabella "cheftestant" on Top Chef

August 19, 2009 — Five National Restaurant Association members are competing on the latest season of Bravo’s "Top Chef" series.

The show, which airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, features 17 "cheftestants" who will compete in cooking challenges for the "Top Chef" title. This season will take place in Las Vegas, home to some of the biggest names in the restaurant industry.

The NRA members competing are Eve Aronoff, chef/owner, Eve, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Ash Fulk, Trestle on Tenth; New York City; Kevin Gillespie, chef/owner, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta; Michael Isabella, executive chef, Zaytinya, Washington, D.C.; Bryan Voltaggio, chef/partner, Volt, Frederick, Md.

Over the next five days, the Hospitality Careers Training Center will post each Chef's Bio.

Michael Isabella

Michael Isabella wants to be the Jose Andres of Greek and Mediterranean cuisine.
Andres is credited with putting Spanish food on the culinary map in America, and Isabella wants to do the same thing for Greek and Mediterranean food. It’s also why he tried out for "Top Chef."

Isabella noticed previous "Top Chef" seasons didn’t feature that style of food. So he thought he might have an edge over this season’s competition and be able to give Greek and Mediterranean cuisine the recognition and respect he says it deserves.

"The No. 1 reason why I went on ['Top Chef'] was to get this cuisine out there," he says. Unlike France, which is "all about food," Greece has more mom and pop eateries than Michelin-rated restaurants. And because there are few cooking schools, "No one is really veering off and coming to the states to cook upscale Greek food."

Isabella built his culinary repertoire by cooking in kitchens along the East Coast. Starting in New York City, he moved to Philadelphia, working at Alma de Cuba, a modern-Cuban restaurant, and El Vez, cooking Mexican food and working with Jose Garces, a James Beard award-winning chef.
Isabella also worked at Kyma, a fine-dining Greek restaurant in Atlanta, where he says he improved his cooking techniques under Chef Pano Karatassos.

Then Isabella received what he calls the biggest opportunity of his life. Andres offered him the position as executive chef at Zaytinya, where he has the freedom to create innovative Greek, Turkish and Lebanese food.

There, he passes to his staff the lessons in hospitality he learned in Atlanta and from his Greek/Italian heritage: to provide great food, guest experience and service.

Source: http://restaurant.org/news/story.cfm?ID=619

Hospitality Careers Training Center

2751 Hennepin Ave S #297

Minneapolis, MN 55408

(612) 216-3987