FDA Announces a Dietetics and Nutrition Webinar Series Co-Sponsored with the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN)

The Food and Drug Administration's CFSAN and JIFSAN are jointly sponsoring a Food and Nutrition Webinar Series for 2015. The Webinar Series consists of four presentations, two each in spring and fall.  The spring webinars are scheduled for 1:00 PM EDT, March 24, 2015, and April 20, 2015. The webinars in the series for fall, 2015, will to be announced later.   The Webinar series is designed for professionals with a focus on nutrition and dietetics including practitioners, students, interns, and faculty in dietetics and nutrition as well as other professional areas.  Other interested parties may also participate.  The purpose of the webinar is to communicate updated information on FDA's food and nutrition regulatory processes that are relevant to professional practice. The topics for the Spring Webinars are as follows:


  *   Tuesday, March 24th, 1:00 until 3:00 PM EDT:  Two labeling presentations: a) Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments and b) Calorie labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines.  Speakers: Felicia Billingslea and Daniel Reese. Approved for 2.0 CPE credits. Learning objectives -- by the end of the webinar attendees will be able to:
1.      Recall two of the criteria a restaurant or similar retail food establishment must meet to be covered by the menu labeling law.
2.      List the information is required to be included on the menu/menu board or for foods on display.
3.      Describe how covered establishments can determine their calorie content and how operators of vending machines can display calorie content.

  *   Monday, April 20th, 1:00 until 2:30 PM EDT: presentation on Gluten-free.  Speakers:  Suzanne Wolcoff and Carol D'Lima. Approved for 1.5 CPE credits.  Learning objectives -- by the end of the webinar attendees will be able to:
     *   Describe the FDA definition of gluten-free
     *   Recall two requirements for a food labeled "gluten-free" to be marketed in the United States
     *   List the additional FDA suggested requirements for gluten-free labeling of hydrolyzed and fermented foods
The Webinar Series is designed to be interactive.  In addition to Q&As at the end of each presentation, there will be case studies, quizzes and polls during the presentations. The Commission on Dietetics Registration of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has approved this webinar series for Continuing Professional Education credits.  To register for a single webinar or the webinar series, click on the following link:  http://jifsan.umd.edu/register/registrant/fda-jifsan-webinar-2015-1

Prerequisite information that will assist in understanding the content in this webinar has been archived at: http://jifsan.umd.edu/events/view/40.  Reviewing the prerequisite information will be of particular importance to those not as familiar with FDA and its regulatory processes.  The following archival presentations are recommended as prerequisite information about the FDA food and nutrition regulatory processes:  Introduction to FDA and the food and nutrition regulatory process and overview of food labeling requirements; These background presentations provide an excellent foundation for webinar participants and assist in a fuller understanding of the topics covered in the 2015 webinar series.