This is a supplement to the December 1999 issue of ADSA Today. It includes information updates on ADSA matters, as well as recent news and grant postings. The next complete issue of ADSA Today is due to be published in March.
The first release of a CD containing back issues of the Journal of Dairy Science, complete with a search engine, is on-track for a late March release. Unfortunately, it will not include all of the issues initially scheduled to be published in this format. Artwork from the late 1995 and 1996 issues is not retrievable electronically, so the initial JDS CD will include only issues and supplements published between January 1997 and December 1999 (a comprehensive three year collection).
You can still purchase the CD directly by going to http://135.145.194.52/adsamemapp.htm or by printing a form off of our website at http://www.adsa.org/jds/adsapubi.html, and mailing it to the headquarters office with your payment ($25 for members, $90 for non-members). If you have already ordered the CD and no longer want it because the late 1995 and 1996 issues are not included, you are entitled to a full refund. Simply click here (adsa@assochq.org) to email your refund request.
Every ADSA member is eligible to help select officers for our
organization. Please e-mail your nominations (adsa@assochq.org
) or
mail them to ADSA Headquarters before January 4 for the following
offices:
VICE PRESIDENT FROM THE DAIRY FOODS DIVISION OF ADSA. This person
will become President in 2001-2002.
Name ____________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________
City ____________________________ State/Country ______________
Zip/postal code _____________________________________________
ONE DIRECTOR FROM THE PRODUCTION DIVISION OF ADSA to serve a three
year term on the ADSA Board of Directors.
Name ____________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________
City ____________________________ State/Country ______________
Zip/postal code _____________________________________________
ONE DIRECTOR FROM THE DAIRY FOODS DIVISION OF ADSA to serve a three
year term on the ADSA Board of Directors.
Name _________________________________________________
Address_____________________________________________
City ______________________________State/Country_____________
Zip/postal code _____________________________________________
Nominations must be returned by January 4, 2000. You may email a
response by clicking here (adsa@adsa.org).
These news articles have been forwarded from Jack Cooper's Food Industry Environmental Network (FIEN) electronic newsletter. For subscription information, contact:
Jack L. Cooper
Food Industry Environmental Network (FIEN)
33 Falling Creek Court; Silver Spring, Maryland 20904
Phone: 301/384-8287 --- Fax: 301/384-8340
E-Mail: JLC@fien.com
Statement on Responsible Conduct of Research
from Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences
Wm. A. Wulf, President, National Academy of Engineering
Kenneth I. Shine, President, Institute of Medicine
Dec. 10, 1999
The research enterprise, like many other human activities, is built on a
foundation of trust. Scientists trust that the results reported by others are
valid. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest
attempt by scientists to describe the world accurately and without bias. The level of
trust that has characterized research and its relationship with society has
contributed to a period of unparalleled scientific productivity. But this
trust will endure only if the research community devotes itself to exemplifying and
transmitting the values associated with ethical conduct of research.
On October 14, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
published in the Federal Register a proposed new definition of research
misconduct, along with suggested procedures for federal research agencies when
dealing with the issue. This government-wide policy:
·defines research misconduct as "fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in
proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research
results";
·deems unnecessary the "other serious deviations" clause contained in some
agencies' definition; says a finding of research misconduct requires that
there be a significant departure from accepted practices of the scientific
community for maintaining the integrity of the research record; the misconduct
be committed intentionally, or knowingly, or in reckless disregard of accepted
practices; and the allegation be proven by a preponderance of evidence";
·relies on the researcher's home institution to respond to allegations of
research misconduct, while keeping in mind the fact that federal agencies have
ultimate oversight authority for federally funded research; and
·provides safeguards for the subjects of allegations as well as for
informants.
In its 1989 and 1995 (2nd edition) student guide On Being a Scientist:
Responsible Conduct in Research, the National Academies -- through their
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) -- describe the
ethical foundations of research practices and some of the personal and
professional issues that researchers encounter in their work.
This guide provides an introduction to the topic that supplements the informal
lessons provided by research supervisors and mentors. Hundreds of thousands of
copies have been distributed since its publication.
In 1992 the committee issued a report titled Responsible Science: Ensuring the
Integrity of the Research Process. In that report, a COSEPUP panel chaired by
Edward E. David presented 12 recommendations that defined scientific
misconduct and proposed uniform mechanisms by which research institutions and federal
funding agencies could deal with specific instances. The panel recommended
that such uniform guidelines be adopted by all federal agencies.
After reviewing the proposed policy, we believe that in general, the OSTP
proposal as outlined in the Federal Register adopts the approach outlined in
the Responsible Science report. In particular, we strongly support the new
definition of misconduct and the decision wherein the "other serious
deviations clause" contained in some agencies' definition was deemed unnecessary.
Establishing a uniform definition of research misconduct across the federal
agencies will encourage the development of consistent policies for responding
to allegations of misconduct.
In addition, we strongly support the decision that agencies and research
institutions are partners who share responsibility for the integrity of the
research process. We also support the view that research institutions bear
primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of research
misconduct, and for the inquiry, investigation, and adjudication of allegations of
research misconduct -- keeping in mind the fact that federal agencies have the ultimate
oversight authority for federally funded research.
Although we have suggested a number of minor modifications in our letter to
OSTP dated November 29, 1999, we believe that the proposed common
definition of misconduct and the procedures outlined for handling such allegations are a
major step forward. We greatly appreciate the years of effort that have gone
into development of this sound policy.
IFST Offers Policy Statement on GM Issue
On November 20, Ralph Blanchfield, a Food Science,
Food Technology and Food Law Consultant who also
serves as the Chair of the External Affairs Committee
and Web Editor of the United Kingdom's Institute
of Food Science and Technology, offered the following
comments at the OECD Consultation with NGOs in Paris.
The complete 10 minute text of his remarks are
posted at the following OECD WWW Site:
http://www.oecd.org/subject/biotech/ngoconsultation.htm
GM Foods -- A Constructive Proposal
by IFST's Ralph Blanchfield
IFST is neither root-and-branch pro-GM or anti-GM -- indeed as an
independent objective scientific professional body it cannot be
"root-and-branch" about anything. In keeping with its principal and
overriding purpose "to serve the public interest by furthering the
application of science and technology to all aspects of the supply of safe,
wholesome, nutritious and attractive food, nationally and internationally"
IFST's 's perspective is that: "Food scientists and technologists can support the responsible introduction
of GM techniques provided that issues of product safety, environmental
concerns, information and ethics are satisfactorily addressed. IFST
considers that they are being addressed, and need even more intensively to
continue to be so addressed. Only in this way may the benefits that this
technology can confer become available, not least to help feed the world's
escalating population in the coming decades."
Please note that "provided that..." means support only on the stated
conditions.
Instead of this Consultation consisting only of further repetition of the
often-repeated arguments for and against the safety of GM foods, we would
propose a constructive approach which we would hope all stakeholders
genuinely concerned with food safety could support and encourage. It is an
approach that is applied to all other kinds of food safety, but so far has
not been explicitly stated in relation to GM foods.
As food scientists we do not use the imprecise, and often emotively-used,
term "dangers".
We use, and distinguish, "hazard" and "risk". Both have been defined by
various international and national authorities, but in brief a "hazard" is
an intrinsic property of a system, operation, material or situation that
could in certain circumstances lead to an adverse consequence. "Risk" is
the probability that a particular adverse consequence might result from a
hazard within a stated time under stated conditions. "Risk assessment"
should take account of both the probability of occurrence and its
seriousness if it occurs.
Everything in life has inherent hazards which can give rise to real risks.
Food of any kind is no exception, but if we were thereby to conclude that
food should no longer be eaten by people, that would be self-evidently the
worst possible outcome. Likewise GM food is no exception.
We do not consider it fruitful to exaggerate real hazards, and to publicise
speculative ones as though they were real, and then to present them all as
actual risks, as harm that will occur.
In GM food, as in all food, the constructive approach is that hazards
should be prevented from giving rise to risks. The methodology to prevent
hazards giving rise to risks, used by those responsible for safety in food
production and distribution, is a systematic one called Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point (HACCP). In principle it had been used by some of us
long before it became formalised, named and operated in the early 1960s in
USA for ensuring that special foods provided for astronauts did not cause
them to become ill during a space mission. It has subsequently become
standard in food manufacture and distribution and is the food safety
standard methodology adopted by WHO/FAO, Codex and many national legislations.
I am sure that many here are familiar with HACCP, but for those who are
not, there is a lot more to it than I need describe here, but in brief, you
study the specific system concerned and identify the hazards and the nature
and potential seriousness of risks to which they could give rise. You then
establish "critical control points" where you operate controls (measures
and limits to prevent a hazard giving rise to an actual risk, and
monitoring to ensure that the control is working effectively).
If you think about it, HACCP is the formalised methodology of what we all
apply without even thinking about it, in our everyday activities --
crossing a busy road, driving a car, practising good hygiene in our
kitchens and domestic circumstances.
Of course, if you are a food technologist or food engineer designing a new
system or re-designing an existing one (say, a new processing method of
manufacture of a particular food product) you use the HACCP approach to
design it so as to avoid as far as possible "built-in" hazards, and then
apply HACCP to the resulting system.
So, distinguishing hazards and risks, instead of identifying possible
hazards in order to cry misleadingly "look at these scary dangers" (the
passive "victim" approach), we (that is, society) should require the
application of the food safety HACCP approach to GM, on an case-by-case basis.
The development of GM technology holds out such valuable, indeed
indispensable, prospects for the future of humanity that any other approach
would be indefensible.
"As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it"
(Saint-Exupery, The Wisdom of the Sands, 1948)
USDA ANNOUNCES AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK FORUM 2000
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will hold Agricultural Outlook Forum
2000 on Feb. 24 and 25, 2000. The meeting will take place at the Crystal
Gateway Marriott Hotel located at 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington,
Va. 22202.
For updates on the meeting program go to:
http://www.usda.gov/oce/waob/oc2000/program.htm
To get periodic e-mail updates, send postal and e-mail addresses to
agforum@oce.usda.gov . To receive information by mail, call 202-720-3050, or
write to Outlook Forum 2000, Room 5143 South Building, USDA, Washington, DC
20250-3812.
Introducing the Forum.
The Forum will provide a comprehensive view of agricultural prospects and
issues in a compact two-day format. Government officials, industry
analysts, and farmers assess farm prospects for the year ahead. Focus
sessions will highlight the impact of biotechnology and other developments
changing the business of agriculture, ranging from concentration to
e-commerce.
Attendees will receive new long-term commodity projections to the year 2009
prepared by USDA economists.
Who Comes? Forum attendees are an important part of this popular event,
which attracted more than 1,100 people last February. They come from
production agriculture, commodity groups, the food and fiber industry,
finance, universities, and government. You’ll have ample time to network. A
networking luncheon, reception and dinner are opening-day highlights. On
the second day, a NEW LUNCHEON for the horticulture industry has been added
to popular luncheons for grains, livestock, cotton and sweeteners.
Location. The Forum will again be held at the Marriott Crystal Gateway
hotel, convenient to Washington, D.C. and Regan National Airport. For hotel
reservations, print the registration form or call the Crystal Gateway
Marriott Hotel at (703) 920-3230. The preferred rate of $147 (single or
double, including current tax) will be offered, based on room availability,
until February 7; you must mention the USDA Outlook Forum to receive this
rate.
Media. A staffed press room for news media will be available. Call Martha
Evans at 202-694-5118 for media registration.
Backgound on Agricultural Outlook Forum 1999
Presentations from USDA's seventy-fifth annual agricultural outlook Forum
are available on the Internet, on audiotape and in print. To purchase
audiotapes call 1-800-969-TAPE. To purchase a copy of Long Term Baseline
Projections to 2008 (item WAOB-99-1) or the Proceedings (item WAOB-YCON-99)
call 1-800-999-6779.
The Forum, held on February 22 and 23, 1999, provided a comprehensive view
of agricultural prospects and issues in a compact two-day format. The
meeting was at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.
Leading government and industry analysts assessed farm prospects for the
year ahead. Focus sessions throughout the meeting addressed major issues
affecting agriculture's future prospects. Attendees received new long-term
commodity projections to the year 2008 prepared by USDA economists. USDA
agencies presented exhibits of useful information and demonstrations of
resources on the World Wide Web.
The meeting attracted a diverse international group of nearly 1,200
attendees representing farm and commodity groups, production agriculture,
the food and fiber industry, finance, universities, and government.
Last revised: November 9, 1999
URL: http://www.usda.gov/oce/waob/agforum.htm
Dairy Foods Conference in Australia Announced
ADSA member David W. Everett wrote recently to inform us of a summer
conference in Australia. The Dairy Ingredient Science 2000 conference will
be held from June 28-30, 2000 at the Exhibition and Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia. For more information, tel: +61 7 3854 1611,
fax: +61 7 3854 1507, email: ozaccom@ozaccom.com.au
or register online at
http://www.diaa.asn.au/seminar/index.html
.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Higher Education
Challenge Grants Program for Fiscal Year 2000; Request for Proposals and
Request for Input
AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of request for proposals and request for input.
SUMMARY: The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
(CSREES) is announcing the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2000. Proposals are hereby requested from eligible institutions as
identified herein for competitive consideration of Challenge Grant awards.
CSREES also is soliciting comments regarding this request for proposals from
any interested party. These comments will be considered in the development of
the next request for proposals for this program.
DATES: Proposals must be received on or before February 14, 2000. Proposals
received after the closing date will not be considered for funding. Forms
indicating intent to submit a proposal are due on January 17, 2000. User
comments are requested within six months from the issuance of the request for
proposals. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent
practicable.
ADDRESSES: Hand-delivered proposals (brought in person by the applicant or
through a courier service) must be received on or before March 6, 2000, at the
following address: Challenge Grants Program; c/o Proposal Services Unit; Office
of Extramural Programs; Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 303, Aerospace Center, 901 D
Street, SW; Washington, DC 20024. The telephone number is (202) 401-5048.
Proposals transmitted via a facsimile (fax) machine will not be accepted.
Proposals submitted through the U.S. mail must be received on or before
February 14, 2000. Proposals submitted through the U.S. mail should be sent to
the following address: Challenge Grants Program; c/o Proposal Services Unit,
Office of Extramural Programs, Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 2245, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-2245. Form CSREES-711, ``Intent to Submit a
Proposal,'' is requested for the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program and
is due February 7, 2000. Applicants may either mail Form CSREES-711 to Higher
Education Programs, Mail Stop 2251; CSREES-USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue,
S.W., Washington, DC 20250-2251, or fax Form CSREES-711 to the Higher Education
Programs office at (202) 720-2030.
Written user comments should be submitted by first-class mail to: Policy and
Program Liaison Staff, Office of Extramural Programs, USDA-CSREES, STOP 2299;
1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250- 2299; or via e-mail to:
RFP-OEP@reeusda.gov . In your comments, please include the name of the program
and the fiscal year of the request for proposals to which you are responding.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey L. Gilmore, Ph.D., Higher Education
Programs, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, STOP 2251, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,
DC 20250-2251; telephone: (202) 720-2211; e-mail: jgilmore@reeusda.gov
.
AAAS Fellowship Deadline Approaching
The AAAS Science and Engineering Fellowship Programs place
postdoctoral to midcareer scientists and engineers in Washington, DC,
to work in areas of public policy as they relate to science and
technology. Fellows spend one year, either in Congress, or the
National Science Foundation, the Department of State, the Department
of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of
Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agency for
International Development, or the RAND Science and Technology Policy
Institute.
For further information and application materials, please call
202/326-6700, e-mail science_policy@aaas.org
, or visit the AAAS web site at
fellowships.aaas.org. Application deadline: January 15, 2000.