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Deibel Labs

FIMRT Annual Meeting

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September 30 @ 8:00 am – October 2 @ 12:00 pm

$645 Registration Fee and Riverboat Cruise

Welcome FIMRT Attendee!

As with previous FIMRT meetings, your registration also includes breakfast and lunch for the meeting days (Tuesday – Thursday). Thursday lunch will be packed to go since the meeting will end at noon and people may want to immediately depart.

On Tuesday evening FIMRT attendees are also invited to take an sundown riverboat cruise. This is an outing to allow attendees to network and enjoy the local scenery. A bus will transport attendees from the meeting hotel to the riverboat dock.

Please complete this registration form to attend our 2025 Meeting.

Labeling Requirements for Foods and Beverages Marketed in the U.S.

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February 24, 2026 – February 26, 2026

2 Day – Live Virtual Course

Provide the necessary training for your staff to assure food product labeling complies with U.S.
regulatory requirements and meets customer and consumer demands.

Food and beverage labeling requirements in the U.S. are complex and getting more comprehensive as market innovation trends change at a fast pace. You need to stay ahead of the curve as the Federal and State regulations, policies, and guidance continue to be refined and redefined. This course will provide you with the foundational and practical knowledge you need to comply with new and established labeling laws and regulations. The instructor, Dr. Robert Post, a former director of scientific and regulatory programs in federal agencies and industry, will cover emerging issues in regulations and labeling to help food sector professionals and product developers reformulate and react to marketplace drivers, such as clean/clear labeling, production and health claims, and responsible sourcing. Understanding the regulatory implications for labeling is essential for a product’s success in today’s market.


FOOD AND BEVERAGE LABELING TRAINING
This two-day virtual course is specifically designed for food industry professionals to receive in-depth instruction on USDA and FDA regulatory labeling requirements for food and beverage products sold in the U.S.


At the conclusion of this course, participants will have the knowledge and tools to understand and apply:

  1. The rules for mandatory labeling of food products
  2. Requirements for nutritional labeling
  3. Rules for health and nutrition claims
  4. Requirements for voluntary labeling features
  5. The rationale for hot topics in food and beverage labeling

Labeling Requirements for Foods and Beverages Marketed in the U.S.

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June 23, 2026 – June 25, 2026

2 Day – Live Virtual Course

Provide the necessary training for your staff to assure food product labeling complies with U.S.
regulatory requirements and meets customer and consumer demands.

Food and beverage labeling requirements in the U.S. are complex and getting more comprehensive as market innovation trends change at a fast pace. You need to stay ahead of the curve as the Federal and State regulations, policies, and guidance continue to be refined and redefined. This course will provide you with the foundational and practical knowledge you need to comply with new and established labeling laws and regulations. The instructor, Dr. Robert Post, a former director of scientific and regulatory programs in federal agencies and industry, will cover emerging issues in regulations and labeling to help food sector professionals and product developers reformulate and react to marketplace drivers, such as clean/clear labeling, production and health claims, and responsible sourcing. Understanding the regulatory implications for labeling is essential for a product’s success in today’s market.


FOOD AND BEVERAGE LABELING TRAINING
This two-day virtual course is specifically designed for food industry professionals to receive in-depth instruction on USDA and FDA regulatory labeling requirements for food and beverage products sold in the U.S.


At the conclusion of this course, participants will have the knowledge and tools to understand and apply:

  1. The rules for mandatory labeling of food products
  2. Requirements for nutritional labeling
  3. Rules for health and nutrition claims
  4. Requirements for voluntary labeling features
  5. The rationale for hot topics in food and beverage labeling

Federal Agencies Publish A Joint National Strategy to Reduce U.S. Food Loss and Waste

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Food waste is estimated at between 30 to 40 percent of the food supply in the United States. This figure, based on estimates from USDA’s Economic Research Service of food loss at the retail and consumer levels, corresponded to approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010. Food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jointly published a draft strategy to prevent the loss and waste of food and increase organic waste recycling. The Draft National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics outlines targeted actions by USDA, EPA and FDA to mitigate the economic and environmental repercussions of wasted food. The strategy is a step towards meeting the national goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030.

The four objectives of the strategy are:

  • Preventing the loss of food where possible.
  • Preventing the waste of food where possible.
  • Increasing the recycling rate for all organic waste.
  • Supporting policies that incentivize and encourage food loss and waste prevention and organics recycling.

For each objective, the draft strategy highlights actions that USDA, EPA, and FDA could take. Some of the priority USDA actions include:

  • Investing $30 million in the Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) Cooperative
    Agreements.
  • Expanding partnerships with NIFA food system programs to further develop educational
    materials, research and outreach for food loss and waste prevention.
  • Funding research and development on innovative new packaging technology to extend the shelf life of food and prevent loss.

Comments are invited on the Draft National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics. The public comment period opened on December 5 for thirty days. Share comments through Regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0415.

For more information about Food Loss and Waste Reduction activities visit:

Multiyear Listeria Outbreak Attributed to Peaches, Plums, &Nectarines

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Whole peaches, plums, and nectarines (i.e. stone fruit) have been implicated in a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections. Initially, an epidemiological investigation indicated
people in this outbreak were 18 times more likely to eat peaches, plums, or nectarines. Subsequent sampling and testing of 2lb bagged peaches from the supplier were found positive by FDA and linked with whole genome sequencing to the outbreak strain. Further analysis indicates that this outbreak has led to one death and eleven illnesses occurring as far back as August 2018.


This is not the first outbreak associated with stone fruit. An outbreak involving Salmonella Enteritidis contaminated peaches occurred in 2020 causing 101 reports of illness. In a 2014 outbreak, the first cases of listeriosis involving contaminated stone fruit (i.e. whole peaches, nectarines, plums, and pluots) were reported. Pathogens generally persist on the contaminated fruit surface (i.e. skin) and can cause illness if not properly sanitized before consumption.

An investigation report for the 2020 outbreak published by FDA examined the potential sources and routes of Salmonella product contamination from associated peach orchards and packing lines. Environmental samples were collected from the packing houses, product samples (peaches) from the packing houses and orchards, and peach tree leaves from the orchards during the investigations. All tested negative for presence of the outbreak strain. This may have been due to subsequent cleaning/sanitization and review/update of food safety programs that occurred during the product recall. However, multiple Salmonella isolates from product and leaf sampling genetically resembled previous chicken and cattle isolates, not associated with any known foodborne illnesses. FDA hypothesized that the adjacent animal operations (both poultry and cattle) were a likely contributing factor to the Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak – with fugitive dust as one possible route of product contamination.

Similar to Salmonella, L. monocytogenes is ubiquitous in nature. It can spread from the growing
environment to harvesting and packing equipment, establishing itself in the processing environment if poor sanitation practices are used. A 2014 outbreak involving L. monocytogenes contaminated whole apples found numerous locations in a processing facility positive for the pathogen where environmental surfaces came into contact with product.


Whole fruits, such as peaches, are considered a raw agricultural commodity and need to comply with regulations set forth in the Produce Safety Rule for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption. Guidance to meet these requirements is available from FDA.