The Food Safety Summit, in its 17th year, is a solutions-based conference and expo designed to meet the educational and information needs of the entire food industry, including dairy processing. The Food Safety Summit is organized by BNP Media, owner of Dairy Foods.

Educational opportunities include a hot topics session that promises to provide answers to important questions in food safety today. A series of five sessions are dedicated to understanding the ramifications of the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) and implementing its requirements.

Other feature presentations include:

• A town hall meeting with officials from the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• A keynote presentation discussing the best practices for food safety.
• A full-day forum titled “Integrating the Nation’s Food Safety System Forum” presented by the AFDO. It will review the efforts and projects in place to integrate the nation’s food safety resources.  

On Wednesday and Thursday, exhibitor showcase theater presentations take place on the exhibit hall floor. Hear subject matter experts educate on food safety issues and technologies and provide insight into potential solutions. One such presentation is titled “Effective foreign material detection for the food processing and packaging industry.” The presentation is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 1 p.m.

New this year, The Food Safety Summit has partnered with Feeding America to aid in the fight to end hunger. The Food Safety Summit Gives Back Networking Reception takes place Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.  Attendees are asked to make a donation when they register online for the conference. One dollar helps provide 10 meals to those in need, and 100% of the donations go directly to Feeding America.

For more exhibitor and attendee information, travel arrangements, directions, registration links and more, visit www.food
safetysummit.com.

Program information:

Monday

HACCP Certification Training: 

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Tues./Wed. 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.)

This 2 ½-day course provides information that professionals in the food processing industry will need for writing a new Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, with more advanced best practice advice from long-time food industry professionals for up-dating and conducting the annual re-assessment of existing HACCP plans.

Tuesday

Highlights: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Integrating the Nation’s Food Safety System Forum, the schedule includes:

• The Vision of an Integrated Food Safety System. Speaker: Michael Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine.
• Building an IFSS: The Past and The Present

FSMA calls for enhanced partnerships and integration of federal, state, local, tribal and territorial partners. The Partnership for Food Protection (PFP) has been working to develop an integrated food safety system with strengthened inspection, laboratory and response capacity. A historical review of activities and examples of PFP projects and successes will be discussed.

1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Workshop 1

Pre-Requisite Programs with a Focus on Allergen Controls, Personnel Practices, Labeling and Temperature Control.

Workshop 2

Novel Techniques for Food Handlers and Decision Makers to Reduce Risks

Wednesday

Highlights: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Keynote presentation: Departmental Cooperation for Food Safety Success.

Learn how food safety professionals work with their operations leaders to ensure the highest standards are met in regards to food safety and quality. Speakers: Charlean Gmunder, former VP Manufacturing Fresh Express; Donnie Temperley, VP, Operations, Hormel Foods Corp.; Keith Carango, Senior VP/COO, The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Inc.

8 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Session 1

Implementing FSMA: Opportunities for Collaboration

Session 2

Who’s Talking to the Consumer? What We Know About Consumer Food Safety Education

Session 3

Food Fraud Trends: FSMA, EU, EK, GFSI and Industry (part 1)

4:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Session 11

Eliminating Food Waste

Session 12

Achieving True Traceability through Transparency

Thursday

Highlights: 8 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Session 15

Food Safety for Food Trucks

9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Town Hall

Open conversation with the FDA, USDA, AFDO and CDC

A candid and interactive discussion on the latest food safety issues with key government officials.

NSF Food Safety Leadership Awards

Recognizing individuals and organizations that have made a lasting impact on food safety.

2 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. — Session 17

Implementing the Intentional Adulteration Rule: Evaluation Facilities and Processes from a New Perspective.

Dairy Foods columnist Clay Detlefsen of the National Milk Producers Federation will be speaking.

3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. — Session 21

Hot Topics: Leadership, PCA, Local Sourcing, Food Safety Systems and more.