The 29th Annual ISGA Convention took place from April 8 – 12, 2019 in Sydney, Australia.

Convention Theme:

The theme for ISGA’s 2019 convention is “Quality Seed, Quality Product, Quality of Life”.  Sydney will be the place for members of the commercial sprout industry from around the world to collaborate on achieving quality seed and quality product which will enhance quality of life for those who consume our products.

Convention Attendees:

Click HERE to learn about the 2019’s convention attendees.  Pictures are included.

Convention Presentations:

ISGA Overview of US Industry
By Carmen Wakeling, President of ISGA
The importance of collaboration on issues affecting the sprout industry, particularly by providing feedback on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), evaluating testing strategies, and seeing if the industry can do better.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(FDA Regulation in US, Sprout Safety)

Time-Temperature Rule
By Barbara Sanderson
The need to examine US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policies as they apply to sprouts. The Time-Temperature Rule is examined in detail.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(FDA Regulation in US)

What’s Up in the USA?  6 Points of Interest
By Barbara Sanderson
A response to FDA’s 125-page Draft Guidance for Sprout Growers.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(FDA Regulation in US)

Why Competitive Exclusion?
By Bob Sanderson
Explanation of how competitive exclusion works and how it can be used to reduce the risk of positive test results.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Sprout Safety)

Sprouting on:  Food Safety Regulation of Sprouts in Australia and Where to Next
By Dr. Craig Shadbolt, Manager, Food Incident Response Biosecurity & Food Safety
The regulatory structure for sprouts in Australia, Foodborne disease surveillance in Australia, potential changes to sprout regulation in Australia, and the current state of sprout sanitation in Australia.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Food Safety Regulation in Australia)

Eatmore Sprouts is Part of International Space Station Experiment
By Terry Farrell
An experiment, “Investigating the Growth Patterns of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) Sprout in Microgravity: A Potential Nourishment for Future Manned Spaceflight,” is taking place this summer (2019).  The sprouts used in the experiment were donated by Eatmore Sprouts.
Click HERE to find out why sprouts were selected for this experiment.
(Sprouts & Space Travel)

Sprouts in space: B.C. alfalfa will launch on a SpaceX rocket
Jenny Peng, Star Vancouver
How Carmen Wakeland, co-owner of Eatmore Sprouts and President of ISGA, helped to make alfalfa sprouts part of the experiment that was submitted to an International student space flight competition. This project was selected by a panel of academics and NASA employees.
Click HERE to read the article.
(Sprouts & Space Travel)

Biogenic Nutrition and the Health Benefits of Sprouts
By Fiona Tuck
The following questions are answered: how do each of the nutrients and phytochemicals in sprouts affect human health, how do sprouted lentils, soy beans, mung beans, adzuki beans and peas increase protein availability, why do broccoli sprouts have a positive affect on human health. Ways of incorporating sprouts into meals are suggested.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Sprout Nutrition)

The Principles of Cleaning and Sanitation
By John Fisher
The elements of an effective cleaning program—cleaning procedures, personnel training, ongoing assessment and management—-are discussed with an emphasis on cleaning a sprout farm.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Sanitation)

Novel Use of Infrared in Sprout Process
By Kevin Hawkins
The advantages of infrared technology and how it can achieve customer specific outcomes are explained.  The potential of infrared technology to be used in a sprouting operation and how it fits into a food safety plan are discussed.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Sprout Safety)

Introducing the Australian Mungbean Association (AMA)
By Mark Schmidt
The state of the Australian Mungbean Industry and how the AMA supports it with a focus on insuring:  food safety and hygienic standards, quality assurance systems to improve traceability of produce, superior mungbean cultivars, and access to the availability of he latest production, marketing and industry information.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Australian Mungbean Industry)

Natural Sprouts Wrapped in Natural Packaging
By Michael Webber
The following aspects of packaging are presented:  The benefits of bio-based plastics; European, American and Asian/Australian packaging standards; how to buy directly from factories to save significant amounts of money.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Green Packaging)

Driving Business Thru, Insights, Creativity and Digital Media
By Mark Higgins
How NSW Business Chamber helps businesses of all sizes to maximize their potential.  Parilla Fresh is used as an example.  Results are quantified in terms of foot traffic in stores, minutes of video viewed on Facebook, the number of Pinterest impressions in 30 day, and visits to the cookbook page.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Marketing)

Introduction of Yamato Weighing Machines
By Shoko Yamashita
The benefits of Yamato Weighing Machines are discussed.  “Dataweigh,” a multi-head weigher, is particularly useful for combination sprout products.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
(Commercial weighing equipment