The Food Safety Summit’s Executive Educational Advisory Council announced that regulatory environment, global perspectives, retail/foodservice and emerging issues will be the key industry themes addressed during the event, which will take place Apr. 12-14 at the Washington D.C. Convention Center.  

“The goal of the 12th Annual Food Safety Summit is to educate and prepare the thousands of food industry professionals attending on new regulations, best practices and new technologies,” says Emily Patten, director of tradeshows and conferences for Troy, Mich.-based BNP Media, producers of the event and parent company ofDairy Foodsmagazine. “The Summit will provide an opportunity for the industry to challenge conventional thinking through a series of highly interactive workshops, educational sessions and keynote presentations.”

Speakers at this year’s conference program will represent the government, universities, foodservice companies and food manufacturers and include leaders from the FAO, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Consumer Federation of America, the FDA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control will speak. In addition, food safety professionals from Del Monte Foods, Costco, Cargill, Nestle Purina PetCare, Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods and Chick-Fil-A will present in the conference sessions.

The conference will kick off with a presentation titled “Global Food Safety Systems” by Mike Robach, vice president, corporate food safety and regulatory affairs for Cargill. Robach will discuss the strategic importance of global systems and the need for harmonization of food safety standards, and also will look at the global challenges surrounding the changing regulatory landscape and the consequences to trade and food security.

On Apr. 14, Michael Taylor from the FDA will host, “Food Safety and the FDA.” Taylor will discuss current activities to strengthen the foods program at the FDA and provide information about the significance and importance of these activities to various sectors of the food chain.

On Apr. 12, there will be four half-day workshops covering HAACP: A Fresh Look; The Three Pillars of a Successful Food Liability Program: Prevention, Response and Resolution; ISO22000 and PAS220: A Winning Combination; and Quantifying and Communicating the Business Risks of Food Safety, Food Fraud and Food Defense.

“We are expecting over a thousand food manufacturing, retail, foodservice, academic, military and government professionals to attend the conference sessions and view the latest products and services on the Expo floor,” Patten says.

In addition to the extensive educational program, the exhibition hall will feature more than 200 exhibitors and vendor roundtable panel discussions, poster sessions and a vendor track theatre. Exhibitors include 3M Microbiology, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Ecolab Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Company LTD, Siemens Building Technology, Silliker Inc., Weber Scientific, among others.

For more information on attending or exhibiting, visit www.foodsafetysummit.com or call 847/405-4000.