Division of Environmental Health Food Safety and Sanitation Program

AFPTF Quarterly Meeting Minutes

• February 10, 2026
• 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. (Alaska)

Roll Call

Jeremy Ayers, Carol Brady, Kimberly Stryker, Heather Branvold-Faber, Nathan Bruns, Brian Himelbloom, Rachel Spencer, Rachel Negron, Stephanie Won, Amy Foote, Jason Wiard, Christine Hughes, Darcy Harris, Kathleen Easley, Dena Cologgi, Sarah Coburn, Emily Garrett, Megan MacDonald

Meeting Notes

• Opening remarks and introductions, Kimberly Stryker
• Food Safety and Sanitation program update, Jeremy Ayers and Carol Brady
  • Three new staff have started in the Anchorage office; hiring one staff in the Wasilla office and one staff in the Anchorage office
  • New legislation proposed, updates will be shared as more information becomes available

Member Updates

• NANA Management, Amy Foote
  • Developing recipes to include more indigenous foods
  • Have also been holding workshops that are going well
• Office of the State Veterinarian, Dr. Sarah Coburn, Dr. Heather Branvold-Faber, Dena Cologgi
  • Grower training was held in January and two trainings are scheduled for April
  • Potential to partner with Food Safety and Sanitation for dairy sampling
  • Participated in outreach through a podcast about dairy terms and technical content
• Brian Himelbloom
  • Approaching eleven years as a process authority
  • Working with home food producers that are planning to scale up to produce and sell wholesale products, encountered a new product and working with the producer to help them produce a safe product that meets the appropriate thresholds for safety and can be sold wholesale
  • Concerned about the increase in Listeria nationwide, need for monitoring and awareness of ready-to-eat food
• Section of Epidemiology, Kathleen Easley and Stephanie Won
  • Their office is fully staffed
  • Completing end-of-year reporting and analyzing data, increased access to testing may contribute to increased reports of foodborne or waterborne illness
• Municipality of Anchorage, Darcy Harris
  • Preparing for several events in Anchorage, hiring for two positions
  • Transitioning to new software, planning to be fully in the new system by April
  • Everything is going well
• Education and Early Development, Rachel Spencer and Rachel Negron
  • No updates at this time

Action Items and Closing Remarks

• Join us in April for our next quarterly meeting!

Next Meeting

• Quarterly Meeting
• April 28, 2026
• 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
• Virtual

Be sure to sign up for the Alaska Food Protection Task Force email list.