The safefood podcasts bring you insights and advice from leading experts on food safety. Through our podcast series, we’ll be looking at factors that shape the food industry on the island of Ireland.

You can listen to the podcasts at https://www.safefood.net/professional/food-safety-podcasts or on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re interested in participating, would like to make a comment or suggest topics please email us at info@safefood.net.

Virtual allergen master classes
Following the success of the allergen master classes offered to 3rd level catering and hospitality students throughout Ireland in 2020, the participating institutes of higher education asked that we run the masterclasses again in 2021. These were delivered in collaboration with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Environmental Health Service. The virtual masterclasses were held for the students and staff on a range of Culinary Arts, Home Economics, Nutrition, Food & Business Management, and Hospitality & Hotel Management courses.

Webinar recordings
During the first half of 2021 the Knowledge Network team has been busy running various webinars on a variety of food safety subjects including:

• The use of meat thermometers by consumers on the island of Ireland
• Cold Plasma: a novel Non-Thermal Processing technology in the Agri-Food Sector
• Effective Food Safety I– Food poisoning bacteria and cleaning
• Effective Food Safety II – HACCP and recording keeping
• An update on Shiga-Toxin producing E.coli in food
• Managing allergens through cleaning
• Practical allergen management for caters and processors

Catch up on all the recordings here: www.safefoodkn.net/videos

We are running a number of free online training workshops for food testing laboratory staff in both public and private laboratories across the island of Ireland. The topics are:
(1) ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Internal Auditing Training
(2) Microbiology Method Validation & Verification Training
For further information on these please email knevents@safefood.net

Give this issue’s food quiz a try and you could be in with the chance of winning a fantastic hamper!

Question 1: What is the food term for when a food (e.g. pasta) is firm when bitten?
Question 2: What condiment is usually served with lamb?
Question 3: Which ‘F’ is a flat savoury Italian bread?
Question 4: Calamari is a dish made from which animal?
Question 5: Aduki, borlotti and cannellini are all types of what?
Question 6: What type of pastry are profiteroles made out of?
Question 7: Grenadine is obtained from which fruit?
Question 8: What is gorgonzola?
Question 9: Chives are a member of which family of vegetables?
Question 10: Where does goulash originate from?

safefood is delighted to offer one lucky quiz winner a fantastic food hamper (similar to picture)

To enter:
Send your answers to knowledgenetwork@safefood.net before 25 June 2021. This competition is open to Knowledge Network members on the island of Ireland only.

Congratulations to Erin McAuley of Glanbia Cheese Ltd who was the winner of issue 19’s quiz.
ANSWERS: 1 Pasta 2 Bean curd 3 Rhubarb 4 Thin strips 5 Halloumi 6 Yellow and pink 7 Lamb 8 Egg yolk and butter 9 Blood 10 Raw beef

Pamela Mullan, Group Laboratory Manager at Moy Park, chats to us about her far-reaching role and the importance of teamwork.

Belfast native Pamela Mullan began her career in 1991 with a role as microbiologist in a small independent lab in Belfast. In 1997 she joined O’Kane Poultry as Lab Manager in Ballymena, Co Antrim and stayed on in the role after O’Kane was taken over by Moy Park.
Earlier this year she took up the position of Group Lab Manager at Moy Park. The company has three state-of-the-art microbiology labs – two in Northern Ireland, and one at its complex in Anwick in Lincolnshire, England. Pamela’s role involves managing all elements of the internal group lab function, as well as managing the work carried out by the external labs the team works with on various projects.
“Our labs support the company microbiologist and provide scientific backup to our sites, from working with our veterinary teams to ensure our birds are healthy, to food safety testing on finished product, and to carrying out important work on allergens,” Pamela explains.
She works with the teams at sites across the UK, and within the different departments of the business, however much of the engagement has been carried out virtually recently due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It is a busy and diverse role in what is a fast paced and dynamic environment. “There is always the challenge of managing expectations of what is realistically achievable within a given timeframe,” Pamela explains. “The testing we carry out is really important, and we are stringently complying with international regulatory standards - you can’t take shortcuts in lab work.”

However there is much to enjoy too, she says. “As a scientist I love exploring new technologies – constantly reviewing what we are doing and seeing how we can make the most of new technologies to do it even better,” Pamela says. “I would say the most enjoyable thing about my role is having the opportunity to work with great people, not only in our labs but across all the various departments within Moy Park. Knowing I am working with a great team helps keep me going.”
The data produced within the Moy Park lab teams underpins much of the decision making in taking the business forward and making improvements across the board. The work Pamela and her colleagues carry out has an impact on many aspects of the company as a result. “I spend a lot of time working with my colleagues in the other technical departments within Moy Park to try and deliver testing or scientific support for the projects they are doing, to help drive improvements within their particular area,” she says.
“We are a vertically integrated business – with control right from production to feed mills to manufacturing the finished product – so there are many areas our labs can get involved in to help deliver excellence at every stage of the process. Every bit of improvement you make at those stages will have a cumulative effect, and within our labs we assist wherever we can to drive that improvement.”
When it comes to the challenges the wider food industry is facing, Pamela points to the ongoing importance of creating and maintaining a solid food chain. “As new trading arrangements see the industry explore new markets, it is important that we maintain a secure food chain,” she says. “Our agri-food industry locally is rightly proud to be world-leading in terms of integrity and food safety, and it is important that isn’t compromised.”

Thanks to Covid-19 and its associated lockdowns, it has been a challenging year for many people and businesses but, as Pamela notes, one of positives to come out of it has been a reminder of the resilience and ingenuity of people. “I think the past year has really demonstrated how much we can achieve when we pull together,” she says. “At the beginning of lockdown, our key workers in the food industry faced some challenging times – responding to changes in demand and working hard to feed the nation with quality food throughout the pandemic.
“For me personally, one of the silver linings has been being able to spend more time with my family, in particular my three young adult children who have been studying and working from home. That being said I am a social person, and I really miss the face-to-face contact with colleagues and friends, so it will be nice to get some of that back again.”

 About Pamela
Where did you grow up? I am originally from Belfast, and lived there all my life until I met my husband who is from the Co Antrim countryside. Now we live in the village of Dunloy, Co Antrim.
What do you never leave the house without? If you had asked me that a year ago, I would have said my handbag with everything I could possibly need inside it. Over the past year the one essential item when leaving the house has of course been a face mask!