A Practical Approach: Cannabis Edibles and Safe Foods for Canadians - Regulations Symposium

  • 1 Oct 2019
  • 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre, 1808 Wellington Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3H 0G3


Join CIFST members and Food Industry colleagues for a symposium on October 1st where we'll take a deep dive into the food safety, market trends, and regulations outlook for marijuana edibles, all hosted by industry expert presenters. 

This is a great way to complete your day at the CIFST Manitoba Supplier Expo! Read on for more details.

Agenda:

8:30 am Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 am Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:15 am Food Safety of Marijuana Edibles: What to expect from the legal and illegal markets? – Dr Keith Warriner

10:30 am Coffee break

11:00 am Safe Food for Canadians Regulations – What we have learned so far – Nona Schultz-Ferris

12:00 pm Lunch

1:00 – 4:30 pm Supplier Expo

REGISTER NOW

Registration deadline: Friday, September 27, 2019

Fees:

Members: $55
Non-Members: $70
Students: $30

Speakers:

Dr. Keith Warriner


Dr. Warriner is currently a Professor within the Department of Food Science at University of Guelph, Canada. Dr. Warriner received his BSc in Food Science from the University of Nottingham, UK and PhD in Microbial Physiology from the University College of Wales Aberystwyth, UK. He later went on to work on biosensors within the University of Manchester, UK and subsequently returned to the University of Nottingham to become a Research Fellow in Food Microbiology. He joined the Faculty of the University of Guelph in 2002.

During the last fifteen years in the field of microbiology and food safety research, Dr. Warriner has published more than 100 papers, book chapters, patents, and conference abstracts. His research interests are focused on enhancing food safety within meat processing, fresh cut sectors and more recently, in the area of marijuana edibles. To this end, his research team have advanced knowledge in the area of emerging pathogens, intervention technologies and development of biosensor devices to detection of foodborne hazards. He was awarded the Ontario Innovation of the Year award in 2017 and OCE Mind to Market award in 2018 for contribution to developing fresh-produce decontamination technologies. He is frequently contacted by the media to provide commentary on food safety issues and is the past President of the Ontario Food Protection Association. He is currently the Chair of the University of Guelph Biosafety committee, Department Graduate Coordinator and Director of the OMAFRA HQP Scholarship program.

Nona Shultz-Ferris

Nona began her career as a research scientist working in the pharmaceutical industry for Apotex Fermentation. After 10 years working as a research scientist, she changed positions and began working in Quality Assurance, assisting the success of the company during multiple FDA audits.

In 2007, Nona accepted the HACCP/Regulatory Affairs Coordinator position at the Food Development Centre in Portage La Prairie. Moving from the pharmaceutical industry to the food industry provided Nona with many challenges, though she found there are many parallels between the two industries.

During her 12 years with the Centre, Nona has worked on many different aspects of the food safety industry, and with many different commodities. She has created over 200 HACCP plans for different products and processes, and has worked with a multitude of different companies and entrepreneurs, assisting them in achieving their food safety and regulatory goals.

Nona has a Chemical and Biosciences Degree from Red River College, and a B.Sc from the University of Manitoba.


About the Presentations:

Food Safety of Marijuana Edibles: What to expect from the legal and illegal markets?

Since the legalization of recreational marijuana in October 2018 the consumption of the drug has increased to 4.5 million users within Canada with >50% being non-medical uses. The next chapter in marijuana legalization is the introduction of commercially produced edibles which will become legal on October 17 2019 with the first products expected to be on shelves in December 2019. The final regulations are descriptive leaving significant room for interpretation with each product being considered on a case-by-case basis. In the absence of definitive regulations, it can be anticipated the illegal market for both marijuana concentrates, topicals, and edibles will be significant. Consequently, public health communications must go beyond health advisories and adopt guidance on safe preparation and use of edibles.

In this presentation an overview of the food safety risks (biological and chemical) linked to marijuana will be outlined. The type of edibles to expect upon legalization will be described and how these compare to those available on the illegal market. With regards the latter, the associated food safety risks linked to edibles produced domestically then retailed on-line, restaurants, farmers market and reservations will be described. Finally, a review of public health messaging in different US states will be provided and how such initiatives could be used to formulate policy here in Canada.

Safe Food For Canadian Regulations - It's not as hard as you think

Are you an importer of foods from out of Canada? Do you plan to exporting food to other countries? Do you manufacture, process, treat, preserve, grade, package or label food to be sent from one province to another? Do you send food from one province to another? Are you a food retailer? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you most likely will be impacted by the Safe Food for Canadian Act and Regulations.

This information session will provide an overview of:

  • Where to start - The Toolkit for food businesses
  • Safe Food for Canadian Act and Regulations – Overview of Division 4 Maintenance and Operation of Establishment – what you need to do, with a take home checklist.
  • Lessons learned - Applications and licensing
  • Creating Preventative Control Plans – What are they?
  • Tips and recommendations


Cancellation

Please call us as soon as possible for cancellations or substitutions (204) 795-7968. Cancellations within 48 hours of the session will be charged a fee of $30 per person


REGISTER NOW

Registration deadline: Friday, September 27, 2019