There’s a rodeo in Cheyenne, WY, every summer that is called the “Daddy of Them All” because it’s been happening since 1897 and has grown into one of the biggest and best. The 19th Annual Food Safety Summit coming up May 8-11 in Rosemont, IL, near Chicago is also not the first rodeo for the organizers of this event, BNP Media.
The Food Safety Summit, which returns to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, has over almost decades become a “must attend” food safety event. It offers certification and training courses, workshops, networking, town halls, and an exhibit hall with more than 200 organizations making presentations.
Hot Topics in Food Safety is one of the back by popular demand sessions. These will be led by an opening day keynote presentation from a dynamic panel of speakers featuring industry and government leaders who will discuss the most important issue facing food safety professional, including the Food Safety Modernization Act, judicial reviews, corporate commitment, and international implications of FSMA rules among others. Among the first day’s “Hot Topic” panelists are:
Kathy Gombas, former senior advisor for food safety, FDA
- David Gombas, former vice president, Technical Services, United Fresh Produce
- Jeffrey Steger, Assistant Director, U.S. Department of Justice
- Shawn Stevens, National Food Industry Lawyer, Food Industry Counsel, LLC
- Craig Wilson, VP, GMM, Costco Wholesale Corporation.
Dane Bernard, managing director for Bold Bear Food Safety will moderate the “Hot Topic” panel.
One of the goals of the “Hot Topics” panel will be to give food safety professional help in getting the resources they need — money, people, and departmental cooperation — to do their jobs successfully. Among the issues panelists will get into are the Department of Justice’s role in food safety, Food Defense, the intentional adulteration rule, foreign supplier verification, and the impact of the produce rule.
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