Allergen Bureau Management Changes

Friday, 06 October 2006 12:36

Following a call for tenders for the on-going management of the Food Safety Centre Allergen Bureau in May this year, a joint proposal from AgriQuality (who have managed the Allergen Bureau from its inception) and Rural Development Services (RDS) proved successful, with this secretariat taking effect on the 1st of July 2006.

Dr Tom Lewis (RDS) has been appointed the Allergen Bureau Manager, with Dr Lyn Davies (AgriQuality) moving to become the Chief Technical Officer. Naomi McGrath-Kerr from RDS is the Executive Officer. This team have overseen the redevelopment of the website and the creation of the Allergen Bureau Operating Plan for 2006/07, in addition to the on-going provision of technical and administrative support to the food industry for all allergen-related projects and enquiries received via the existing freecall and email helpdesk service.

One of the first roles of the new secretariat was to appoint a Management Committee. This was achieved through a formal and transparent call for nominations and votes from all Member companies, and resulted in the election of Fiona Fleming (George Weston Foods, and subsequently elected as Chair of the Management Committee), Kirsten Grinter (Uncle Tobys) and David Henning (Campbells Arnotts). Dr Tom McMeekin also stands on the Committee as a representative of the Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence, and Dr Tom Lewis is an observer on behalf of the Allergen Bureau Secretariat.

The Management Committee has developed its Terms of Reference (which will be available in the soon-to-be-released Operating Plan and Budget), with a key function to direct the use of resources of the Allergen Bureau on behalf of all Members.