Session Categories
Keynote Presentations
Tuesday, April 13, 9:45am-10:30am
Mike Robach, Vice President, Corporate Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Cargill, Inc.
Global Food Safety Systems
As a Keynote presenter, Mr. Robach will discuss the strategic importance of global systems and the need for harmonization of food safety standards. He'll look at the global challenges surrounding the changing regulatory landscape and the consequences to trade and food security.
ABOUT MIKE ROBACH
Mike Robach joined Cargill in January of 2004 to lead the company's global food safety and regulatory affairs programs. In this role he leads Cargill's corporate efforts across food safety, regulatory compliance, animal health, and quality assurance. Mike started out his career with Monsanto Company. Prior to joining Cargill, he headed up technical services for Wayne Farms LLC. Mike is a graduate of Michigan State University and of Virginia Tech.
Wednesday, April 14, 9:45am 10:30am
Michael R. Taylor, JD, Deputy Commissioner for Foods, U.S. FDA
Food Safety and the FDA
Mr. 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.
ABOUT MICHAEL R. TAYLOR
Mike Taylor joined FDA on July 6, 2009, as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, with responsibility for overseeing the planning and implementation of food safety reform at FDA. From June 2000 until joining FDA, Mr. Taylor worked in academic and research settings as a research professor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, a professor at the University of Maryland's School of Medicine, and a senior fellow at Resources for the Future.
Mr. Taylor has served in government as Administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (1994 1996), Deputy Commissioner for Policy at the Food and Drug Administration (1991 1994), and FDA staff lawyer and Executive Assistant to the FDA Commissioner (1976 1981). In the private sector, he established and led the food and drug law practice at King & Spalding (1981 1991 and November 1996 September 1998) and was Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Company (October 1998 January 2000).
Mr. Taylor has served on several National Academy of Sciences committees studying food related issues. Until joining FDA, he was a senior fellow with The Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa and a board member of Resolve, Inc. and the Alliance to End Hunger. Mr. Taylor received his law degree from the University of Virginia and his B.A. in political science from Davidson College.
Full-Day Workshops
Sunday, April 11 • 8:00am-5:00pm
P101 ServSafe® Training and Certification
Managers need to know food safety and the critical importance of its role. And they need to learn how to share food safety knowledge with every employee. ServSafe® gives them the knowledge and tools to do just that. Some of the concepts managers will understand with ServSafe® training include: sanitation; the flow of food through the operation; and sanitary facilities and pest management. Finally, your managers will cover the way to keep employee training ongoing, to keep food safety working in every location. ServSafe® is the training that is learned, remembered, shared and used. And that makes it the strongest food safety training choice for your operation.
- Peter Good, CFSP, President, Peter Good Seminars
This course will be presented by Peter Good, a nationally recognized ServSafe® trainer with over 20 years experience in training trainers for companies such as McDonald's, Brinker International, Whataburger and Chick Fil A, Inc. He is formerly Director of Education for the Illinois Restaurant Association and has conducted dozens of "train the trainer" workshops for the National Restaurant Association.
Special Note: This course qualifies for a total of 16 hours of continuing education credit, of which 4 hours is "Train-the-Trainer", and includes the ServSafe® Certification Exam and Certificate. The "Train-the-Trainer" portion of the seminar is designed for those who have passed the first 12 hours of the course with a score of at least 90% and are now ready to train others. As a trainer, you'll walk away with top-quality tools and ideas for training your own staff and for developing relationships within your organization.
Attendees are required to attend the entire 16 hours of education. A minimum of 25 people are required in order to hold the training, with a maximum number of 40 people allowed, first come, first served.
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Half Day Workshops
Monday, April 12, • 1:00pm 5:00pm
P102 HACCP: A Fresh Look
The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system for assuring food safety has been used successfully for four decades. But what does the future hold for HACCP? How can you identify ways to make your program successful? The session will review the basic concepts of HACCP as well as explore implementation and management issues in this workshop.
- Donna Schaffner, Associate Director, Rutgers University Food Innovation Center
P103 The Three Pillars of a Successful Food Liability Program: Prevention, Response and Resolution
Creating a successful food liability program can be extremely difficult if you aren't knowledgeable about where to start or what to do. Learn from industry legal professionals about the best way to prevent company liability through a thorough risk assessment, the proper crisis management team you must have in place, and most importantly, how to resolve any claims that are made, including how to work with your insurance carrier. This is a must attend session for anyone involved with corporate liability issues!
- Mary Kathryn Covert, Associate, Public Affairs, FD
- Hal King, Manager of Food and Product Safety, Chick Fil A, Inc.
- Tom Packer, Partner, Gordon & Rees, LLP
- Scott Rickman, Associate General Counsel, Del Monte Foods
- Craig Wilson, AVP, GMM Food Safety & Quality Assurance, Costco
- Rick Woollams, Chief Claims Officer, Chartis US
- Robert Brackett, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific and
Regulatory Affairs Officer, Grocery Manufacturers Association
P104 ISO22000 and PAS220: A Winning Combination
Retailers and food service establishments are strengthening the food supply chain. As a result the suppliers must certify their food safety management systems to a GFSI benchmarked standard. This workshop focuses on developing and certifying a food safety management system to ISO 22000 and PAS 220. Presenters will share tips and tricks for developing and managing an effective FSMS.
- John Surak, Surak and Associates
- Kim Onett, Audit Operations Manager, Silliker
- Mark Overland, Manager, Global Certifications, Cargill, Inc.
- Craig Henry Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer,
Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, GMA (Grocery Manufacturers Association)
P105 Quantifying and Communicating the Business Risks of Food Safety, Food Fraud, and Food Defense
Companies clearly understand that a range of food risks impact their businesses, but food safety professionals are challenged when developing, quantifying and communicating the risks to senior management. This workshop will help food safety professionals effectively communicate with their senior officers in a manner that they wil understand on topics such as ROI and Enterprise Risk Management reviews.
- Gary Ades, PhD, President, G&L Consulting Group, LLC
- John Spink, Director & Instructor, Packaging for Food and Product
Protection (P FAPP) Initiative, Michigan State University
- Neil Marshall, Global Quality & Food Safety, The Coca Cola Company
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Tuesday Educational Sessions
Tuesday, April 13 • 8:00am-9:30am
T101 Federal Food Safety Legislation
There has been a growing consensus that reform and changes are needed in our food safety system, and as a result, comprehensive food safety legislation has been introduced and enacted by Congress. This legislation includes measures to reform the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) oversight of food and imposes a variety of new requirements on food producers, manufacturers, handlers, and distributors. The panel will provide their insight on the legislation and discuss what impacts they believe it will have on improving food safety.
- Scott Faber, Vice President, Federal Affairs, Grocery Manufacturers Association
- Christopher Waldrop, Director of Food Policy, Consumer Federation of America
- Gerald Wojtala, Deputy Director, Food & Dairy Division, Michigan Department of Agriculture
T102 Harmonization of Standards: What It Means to Your Company's Business
Discussion of the important role played by harmonizing public, science based standards developed by Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) such as World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - CODEX (Codex Alimentarius Commission) and IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) with global food safety systems. This will include a review of each of the "three sisters" (OIE, CODEX and IPPC). OIE is concerned with animal health and welfare, CODEX ( Codex Alimentarius Commission) with international food standards covering all major foods and aspects of the food chain and IPPC with plant and plant product.
- Dave Harlan, Director of Global Animal Health and Food Safety, Cargill, Inc.
T103 Prerequisite Programs
Prerequisite programs support your HACCP plan and when properly utilized, prerequisite programs can provide 90% of the solutions to food safety and quality situations. What constitutes an excellent pre requisite program and how do you effectively implement one? In this session, we'll discuss the importance of pre requisite programs such as sanitation and environmental monitoring and how to implement them successfully.
- Larry Cohen, Principal Scientist, Global Micro & Food Safety, Kraft Foods
- Walter Ram, Director of Food Safety, The Guimarra Companies
T104 Packaging for Food Safety and Sustainability
Packaging continues to be a very important and often underutilized food safety and marketing tool. This session will include broad coverage of the packaging opportunities including international packaging trends, the role of packaging in traceability, and also a new focus on the packaging contribution to corporate sustainability cost savings and merchandising initiatives. The session will explore unique and novel contributions beyond the obvious, such as traceability programs assisting in recalls and also helping to detect or deter product fraud (counterfeiting/ economically motivated adulteration).
- Bruce Harte, PhD, Professor, School of Packaging, Michigan State University
- Sher Paul Sing, PhD, School of Packaging, Michigan State University
- John Spink, Director & Instructor, Packaging for Food and Product
Protection (P FAPP) Initiative, Michigan State University
- Wynn Wiksell, Manager of Packaging Quality and Regulatory Operations, General Mills
Tuesday, April 13 • 2:30pm-4:00pm
T201 FDA Modernization of GMPs
In 2005 FDA requested public comment on the modernization of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). In response to that an industry cGMP Coalition took the opportunity to provide comments as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revisited the modernization of the current GMPs regulations for foods. The Coalition, comprised of over 60 food companies and trade associations, was formed to respond to and work with FDA as it attempted to move forward with this process. Now, four years later FDA is reengaging on the modernization of GMPs and industry is fully prepared to collaborate in this initiative and to build upon the recommendations made by industry to FDA in 2006. Currently, the GMPs are broad regulations that address the manufacture of a wide range of products in establishments of varying sizes and processing technologies. Panelists will address the current scope and key components of that should be addressed in modernization GMPs.
- Cary Fry, Vice President, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, International Dairy Foods Association
- John Sheehan, Director, Division of Plant & Diary, U.S. FDA
- Caroline Smith DeWal, Food Safety Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest
T202 Role of Public Private Partnerships in the Global Community
This session focuses on how effective public private partnerships have been developed by key organizations throughout the world. This includes activities by Safe Supply of Affordable Foods Everywhere (SSAFE) and the Global Initiative for Food Systems Leadership (GIFSL).
- Dave Corley, Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, Nestle Purina PetCare
- Mark Fryling, PhD, QRO Director - International, General Mills
- Daniel Gustafson, Director FAO Liaison Office for North America,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
T203 Economic Adulteration: Preventing Food Fraud
There have been many recent instances of adulteration of food for economic gain and it continues to be a problem in a global economy. Everything from vegetables to seafood to milk and pet food has been affected by contamination, and there are even cases of straight out counterfeiting of brand name products.
- Jim Morehouse, Senior Partner, AT Kearney
- Joseph Scimeca, PhD, Director of Global Regulatory Affairs, Cargill, Inc.
- John Spink, Director & Instructor, Packaging for Food and Product
Protection (P FAPP) Initiative, Michigan State University
T204 GFSI Behind the Scenes: The Place and Process for Global Food Safety Harmonization.
Your company is likely being asked to provide a GFSI approved audit. Go behind the scenes to find out how GFSI works, who is involved, what the process is, why GFSI is gaining momentum/acceptance, and where GFSI is going. We will discuss the inputs (CODEX, Regulations, etc), process (structure, benchmarking, accreditation), and outputs (Guidance Document, Approved Standards, Food Safety Knowledge Network).
- Mark Overland, Manager, Global Certifications, Cargill, Inc.
Tuesday, April 13 • 4:15pm-5:45pm
T301 Integrating the Food Supply Chain - Improving Traceability
New legislation is proposing FDA define requirements for improved traceability throughout the supply chain. This information may become more prescriptive that the current requirements for "one step forward, one step backward" as defined in the Bioterrorism Act. Some of the legislation in both the House and the Senate propose using a produce pilot program to characterize the type of information, format to be used and time frame to submit to FDA in the event of a recall. Additionally some proposed legislation is calling for "farm to fork" traceability. Industry supports the critical need for each stakeholder in the food supply chain to trace products, within 24 hours, to facilitate efficient, timely and effective removal of substandard product. This session will provide the latest thinking on how regulators and industry are approaching this most challenging supply chan issue.
- Joe Corby, Executive Director, Association of Food and Drug Officials
- Dave Gombas, PhD, Senior Vice President, Food Safety and Technology, United Fresh
- Sherri McGarry, Emergency Coordinator; Office of Food Defense, Communications,
& Emergency Response, CFSAN/FDA
T302 The Pitfalls of HACCP
A well developed HACCP plan with proper implementation is key to any food safety program. Learn from experts about the challenges of developing a good HACCP plan and appropriate management practices. How do you conduct a proper hazard analysis? How do you make the corrective actions meaningful? And what about the forgotten principal Verification? How do you effectively implement it?
- Benjamin Warren, PhD, Platform Food Safety and Microbiology, Research,
Quality Innovation, ConAgra Foods Inc.
T303 Building the Bridge to Food Safety through Sanitation and Sanitary Design
Join this session to visualize the critical relationship between effective sanitation, sanitary design and food safety. Appropriate scientifically valid sanitation procedures will be discussed for a variety of processes to assure food safety. Additionally the linkage will be established between effective sanitation and sanitary design using industry accepted principles of equipment and facility design.
- Joe Stout, Director Product Protection, Sanitation & Hygienic Design, Kraft Foods
- Gary Goessel, Food Safety Manager, Corporate Quality, Kellogg's
T304 Pandemic Influenza Crisis Planning: Lessons Learned for Food Safety
Learn what new hurdles were faced in preparing for H1N1 and how these lessons can be used to effectively help your company plan to address this and other types of crises. You may not have been directly involved with planning for this particular crisis but you and your company were affected by it. This is your opportunity to gather and share information that can help you be better prepared for a food safety crisis.
- Gary Ades, PhD, President, G&L Consulting Group, LLC
- Hal King, Manager of Food and Product Safety, Chick Fil A, Inc.
- Pefecto Santiago, DVM, Deputy Assistant Administrator,
FSOS Pandemic Action Officer, USDA/ FSIS
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Wednesday Educational Sessions
Wednesday, April 14 • 8:00am-9:30am
W101 Integrating the Food Safety System / Progress In Action
A fully integrated national food safety system will utilize resources and authorities of all levels of government as an effective means for meeting existing and new food safety challenges. This is not a new approach to food safety as many innovative projects exist in certain areas and jurisdictions where the concept of an integrated food safety system is being tested and proving to be successful. Panelists will discuss a number of these current projects and illustrate what their impact could be if conducted on a national basis.
- Lisa Hainstock, RS, Food Safety Specialist, Michigan Department of Agriculture
- Patrick Kennelly, Chief Food Safety Section, California Department of Public Health
- Ellen Laymon, Food Program Manager, Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Gerald Wojtala, Deputy Director, Food & Dairy Division,
Michigan Department of Agriculture
W102 The Challenges of Sampling
A major issue that must be addressed is proper sampling of raw and finished goods. What is the definition of a "lot"? What do you sample? How many samples do you take? How do you take a sample? What do you do with the lot from which the sample is taken? We will discuss the pitfalls and possible solutions to common sampling problems and analyze what could be mandated in the future.
- Will Daniels, Vice President, Quality, Food Safety and Organic Integrity, Earthbound Farm
- Emily Mathusa, MS, Scientist, Microbiology, Grocery Manufacturers Association
- Brian Zomorodi, Senior Vice President of Technology and Quality,
Science and Technology Center, Ready Pac
W103 A Global Crisis: Zoonotic Diseases and How They Jump Species
According to a report released by the National Academy of Science, significant weaknesses undermine the global community's abilities to prevent, detect and respond efficiently to potentially deadly species crossing microbes, such a the pandemic H1N1 influenza that has swept the globe.
- William Karesh, DVM, Vice President, Global Health Programs, Wildlife Conservation Society
- James Wilson, MD, Chief Technology officer, Veratect Corporation
- Juergen Richt, DVM, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University
- Thomas McGinn, DVM, Chief Veterinary Officer, Director, Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Defense,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
W104 Sustainability: What Does This Mean and How Do You Implement It?
What is sustainability? Provide definitions from each market segment and what they are doing to apply it. What's worked, what hasn't and why? Could include topics like: social responsibility - labor issues, environmental issues like carbon footprint, environmentally safe, less use of fuel;, sustaining and executing programs. There has been a focus on measuring results, but some may measure YOU by it - how to avoid this trap?
- Gregory Pallaske, MS, REHS, Director, Regulatory Compliance and Food Safety
& Quality Assurance, U.S. FoodService
- Deon Lategan, Director of Residential Dining, Colorado State University
- Charles Green, Director of Marketing, Virginia Department of Agriculture
Wednesday, April 14 • 2:00pm-3:30pm
W201 Imported Foods Improving Foreign Supplier Food Safety Systems
Ultimately it is the manufacturers' responsibility to prevent the production and shipment of contaminated or adulterated food. Today optimal supply chain management is the focus of many stakeholders including the media. Should adulterated product reach the market, the consumer will hold not only the retailer and the manufacturer responsible but also the local government and the government of the importing country. There is no better example than the challenges presented to the US and Chinese governments in 2007 and 2008. During this period of time, food manufacturers in China intentionally adulterated wheat gluten and milk formula with melamine. These products killed numerous animals and children after their incorporation into food products. Consequently concerns about food safety in the Asia Pacific region have risen sharply, requiring a high level, collective mandate to restore consumer confidence. There is a recognized need to improve regulator and manufacturer technical competence and understanding of food safety management. The APEC Partnership Training Institute Network (PTIN) for Food Safety will address this need. The PTIN was endorsed specifically by APEC Leaders in 2008 and has now entered the implementation phase. This session will accurately frame the challenges facing imported foods into the US and some of the tools industry can harness to improve their food safety systems.
- Robert Brackett, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific and Regulatory
Affairs Officer, Grocery Manufacturers Association
- Jim Morehouse, Senior Partner, AT Kearney
- Jennifer Thomas, Director of Division Enforcement, FDA/CFSAN Office of Compliance
W202 Capacity Building Around the Globe
In this session, you'll hear about current programs from around the world that train food safety professionals. What is being done to ensure sufficient resources for food safety training and availability? How is this impacting food safety education? What does this mean for you and your company?
- Les Bourquin, Associate Professor and Food Safety Specialist in the Department of Food
Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University
W203 Best Practices and Solutions for Food Service and Retail; Part 1
There are many age old issues in food safety and quality assurance. We'll talk about many of them in this extended session and help you find better practices and solutions to problems. Topics include: regulatory visits, sanitation, validation and improving current practices, listeria, high risk areas in deli counters, and COOL Labeling (seafood issues and approaches/tools are you using such as signage, electronics how are you remaining compliant).
- Chamos Burnside, Food and Occupational Safety Manager, Food Lion
- Jay Ellingson, PhD, Director of Food Safety and QA, Kwik Trip, Incorporated
- Veny Gapud, MS, Food Safety Consultant, Formerly Director of Quality Assurance
and Food Safety, Popeys Louisianna Kitchen
- Jennifer Maxfield Heath, H E B Corporate Compliance and Ethics
W204 Defining Organic
Learn about the ways different foods can be certified. In this session we'll discuss the positive and negative aspects of organic products. Assess what you should look for in organic ingredients and products. Discuss organic certifying agents and consumer labeling issues.
- Will Daniels, Vice President, Quality, Food Safety and Organic Integrity
- Steve DeMuri, Director, Commercialization and Improvement, Campbell Soup Company
- Jake Lewin, Chief Certification Officer, CCOF
- Miles McEvoy, Deputy Administrator, National Organic Program, U.S.D.A. Agricultural Marketing Service
- John Foster, Senior Manager, Quality, Food Safety & Organic Integrity, Earthbound Farm
Wednesday, April 14 • 3:45pm-5:15pm
W301 FDA Partnership for Food Protection / Workgroup Activities
In August 2008, FDA held a 50 state meeting, in St. Louis, Missouri entitled "Gateway to Food Protection". Those in attendance stressed the importance and challenge of creating a coordinated and integrated strategy for food protection. One of the outcomes from the meeting was to create a Coordinating Committee along with 4 Workgroups that would identify measures implementing this strategy. These 4 Workgroups have been working on specific projects and will offer details of these efforts today just 4 months prior to their projected work completion date of August 2010.
- Vance Bybee, Administrator, Food Safety Division, Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Brian Collins, MS, REHS, DAAS, Director of Health, City of Plano Health Department
- Carrie Rigdon, PhD, Dairy and Food Inspection Division, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
- Steve Solomon, DVM, MPH, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Compliance Policy,
Office of Regulatory Affairs, U.S. F.D.A
W302 Public Health Surveillance: Global Linkages
The world is now a global community and diseases and crisis spread rapidly. How do we find the linkages that are often sporadic in order to find the solutions to a public health crisis? Can we improve our ability to prevent food safety risks by implementing a national public health surveillance system?
- John Besser, PhD, Deputy Chief, Enteric Disease Laboratory Branch,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Jack Guzewich, RS, MPH, Senior Advisor: Environmental Health, FDA/CFSAN
- Art Liang, MD, MPH, Director, CDC Food Safety Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Mike Liewen, Global Vice President, Quality Assurance Yum!Brands, Inc.
W303 Best Practices and Solutions for Food Service and Retail; Part 2
There are many age old issues in food safety and quality assurance. We'll talk about many of them in this extended session and help you find better practices and solutions to problems. Topics include: regulatory visits; sanitation, validation and improving current practices, listeria, high risk areas in deli counters, COOL Labeling (seafood issues and approaches/tools are you using such as signage, electronics how are you remaining compliant).
- Chamos Burnside, Food and Occupational Safety Manager, Food Lion
- Jay Ellingson, PhD, Director of Food Safety and QA, Kwik Trip, Incorporated
- Veny Gapud, MS, Food Safety Consultant, Formerly Director of Quality Assurance
and Food Safety, Popeys Louisianna Kitchen
- Jennifer Maxfield Heath, H E B Corporate Compliance and Ethics
W304 Understanding Perishables Safety
You eat and use fresh produce and meat most every day. What do you know about its origins and treatments? Do you know how produce is grown and harvested? How are antimicrobials affecting meat quality? What are the specific food safety issues surrounding perishable products? Critique current testing programs as tools to verify ongoing safety and quality effectiveness.
- Will Daniels, Vice President, Quality, Food Safety and Organic Integrity, Earthbound Farm
- Thomas Mack, Vice President of Technical Services, Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc.
- Gale Prince, PhD, Ret. Director, Corporate Regulatory Affairs, The Kroger Company
- Walter Ram, Director of Food Safety, The Guimarra Companies
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