Food Safety is no accident – it takes everyday heroes like you to ensure the safety and quality of our food products, services and processes. The Food Safety Summit, the largest and most established food safety and defense exposition in North America is the place where Heroes meet. The Summit features a full program of intensive educational seminars, workshops networking events and a large trade show exhibition.

Each year, the Summit provides food processors, retailers, foodservice, government, military and academic professionals a forum to learn from expert speakers and trainers. Heroes looking to exchange ideas, find solutions to current job challenges and engage in networking opportunities.

The Summit is owned and operated by BNP Media, the world’s largest media producer for the food, beverage and packaging industries. The 2009 Summit, which takes place April 27th - 29th at the Washington DC Convention Center, will be supported by a comprehensive and integrated attendee marketing campaign incorporating BNP Media’s 19 industry-leading publications and websites long with media partners including Food Quality magazine, Food Safety Magazine, and Quality Assurance magazine.

At the Summit, you will find two and a half days or intensive education covering traditional concerns (E. coli, product tampering, employee training, microbiological testing) to the rapidly emerging (bioterrorism, traceability, lab automation, global regulatory trends) – as well as topics that address the very real issue of crisis management. The annual Food Quality Award Reception also takes place during the 2009 Summit and provides an opportunity to network with food safety professionals and honor industry peers for their commitment to food safety and quality. Also at the Summit, Heroes will find a resource-rich Exhibition Hall with over 200 exhibitors, the New Products Showcase, Posters and the opportunity to continue your education in the Vendor Track Theatre.

Come join thousands of other food-safety heroes at the annual event that allows them to enhance their knowledge about their profession:

The 2009 Food Safety Summit

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2008 wrap-up

More than 1,700 people from all areas of food safety gathered in Washington, D.C. on March 17-19, 2008 for the tenth annual Food Safety Summit Conference and Exposition. By any standard it was a resounding success.

Those attending the Summit came from suppliers, processors, retail, foodservice, government, military, academic institutions and associations; all of them sharing their knowledge and experience in the battle for food safety. From the seminars covering every aspect of food safety, with a special focus on the Global Food Safety Initiative, to the keynote addresses and more than 200 companies in the exhibit hall displaying products and services, the Summit served as forum for the latest information in fighting contamination.

“We had a record attendance and all initial feedback has been extremely positive,” said Scott Wolters, CEM, director of tradeshows and conferences for Troy, Mich.-based BNP Media, producers of the event. “Attendees really enjoyed the new features, including the Poster Session Area and the Vendor Track Theatre where exhibitors had an opportunity to present data in their particular area of expertise.”

Dr. Daniel K.C. Fung of Kansas State University presented the winners of the first Posters & Papers Research Program before the final keynote address. The first place award was given to the Grocery Manufacturers Association for their poster entitled “An Industry Survey on Levels of Residual Allergens in Fryer Oils from Commercial Frying Operations.”

West Liberty Foods of West Liberty, Iowa won the seventh annual Food Quality Award at a special reception sponsored by DuPont Qualicon. Frank Yiannas, director of safety and health for Walt Disney World, spoke on the future of food safety.

Yiannas also spoke in thanks to the winners of the Food Safety Awards from the NSF International the next day. The winners are Paul A. Lachance, Ph.D., F.A.C.N., C.N.S., Founding Director, The Nutraceuticals, Function Food Institute and Professor Emeritus, Department of Food Science at Rutgers University for the Lifetime Achievement in Education & Technology and Daniel L. Engeljohn, Ph.D., Food Safety and Inspection Services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Lifetime Achievement in Public Service.

Other winners included Elizabeth A. Bugden, MS, food scientist Kids First; Tom Dickey, project coordinator for The National Environmental Health Association “Epi-Ready Team Training”; and Jeanne Gleason, Ph.D., director of media productions at New Mexico State University for Education and Training; Christine Moe, Ph.D., the Eugene J. Gangarosa Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation and Director of the Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University for Research Advancement; Sterilox Food Safety Systems for Equipment Design; and Norm Faiola, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University for Product Development.

The Summit’s keynote speakers all gave detailed, informative speeches about the issues facing the food industry. Coca-Cola’s Rick Frazier, senior vice president of technical stewardship talked about leveraging risk, reputation and revenue to become a highly respected international company. Richard Rivera, chairman of the National Restaurant Association, spoke on the restaurant industry’s work on ensuring food safety. The final keynote brought in representative’s from the government’s main food safety guardians: Kari Barrett, senior advisor for food protection at the Food and Drug Adminstration/CFSAN; Capt. David Elder, director of The Office of Enforcement within the Office of Regulatory Affairs at the FDA; and Steve Steingart, CFSP, industry liaison/assistant chief for the Alleghany County (Penn.) Health Department and president of the Association of Food and Drug Officials.

The entire event was informative and productive for everyone who attended. Plans are already being made for the 2009 Food Safety Summit. It will be held April 27-29, 2009 and will return to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information, call (847) 405-4000 or visit www.foodsafetysummit.com.

Sincerely,

Tom Wray
Associate Editor, The National Provisioner