Newswise — More than 600 public health professionals, health care providers, educators, industry representatives, communicators, and associations will convene March 23-26, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Ga., for an important food safety education conference. Hosted by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the nonprofit, public health organization NSF International, this conference will focus on identifying communication and education strategies to increase the public’s knowledge of the causes of foodborne illnesses and improve food safety practices.
Attendees from 47 states and 31 countries can choose from among 39 breakout sessions and 34 poster sessions featuring 227 presenters. They may also visit 28 exhibits. Eight pre-conference workshops include sessions on food safety, HACCP certification, and training topics.
The conference will be opened on March 24 by Jerold R. Mande, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. The opening day keynote speaker Michael R. Taylor, JD, Deputy Commissioner for Foods, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is a nationally recognized food safety expert and research professor. Mr. Taylor will be joined by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Administrator Al Almanza who will review FSIS’ efforts to implement the recommendations of the President’s Food Safety Working Group.
Carolyn O’Neil, MS, RD, the keynote speaker at the conference’s March 25 luncheon, is an award-winning journalist who led CNN’s coverage of food, nutrition, and cuisine for nearly 20 years. She is the "Healthy Eating" columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ms. O’Neil is speaking on “Food Safety in the News: From Recalls to Recipes.”
Major keynote talks will be delivered throughout the conference with the closing session kicked off by Tom Chestnut, NSF International’s Vice President, Supply Chain Food Safety and Quality. Mr. Chestnut is a registered Environmental Health Professional with over 25 years of experience who has expertise in food safety and quality throughout the supply chain. He helped found the Food Safety Leadership Council and was awarded industry Sanitarian of the Year by the National Environmental Health Association in 1995. The final speaker of the conference is Frank Yiannas, Vice President of Food Safety for Wal-Mart, who oversees all food safety and other public health functions for the world's largest food retailer. His March 26 talk is on “The Importance of Food Safety Culture in Retail Food Service.” Prior to joining Wal-Mart in 2008, he was the Director of Safety and Health for the Walt Disney World Company, where he worked for 19 years.
Among the 227 presenters are these noted experts on educating consumers about the causes and effects of foodborne illness and strategies for its prevention:
•Françoise Fontannaz, Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses, and Foodborne Diseases, World Health Organization. Author of “The Five Keys to Safer Food” Programme, which has been translated into 55 languages.•Deb Scherre and Chris Weiss, Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), presenters at a pre-conference workshop, “Food Allergies: Trends, Issues, and Opportunities”•Caroline Smith DeWaal, Directs the food safety program for the Center for Science in the Public Interest•Carolyn Monteilh, Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) “EHS-Net Foodborne Outbreak Study”•Michael Roberson, Director of Corporate Quality Assurance, Publix Super Markets, Inc. “Food Safety in the Retail Foodservice Environment”•Shelley Feist, Partnership for Food Safety Education, “Safe Handling Messages on Food Products: Opportunities and Limitations”•Robert Gravani, Cornell University, “Food Allergies: Identifying and Responding to Educational Needs”•Margaret Briley, Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, “Food Safety Evaluation of Sack Lunches of Preschool Children in Child Care Centers”•Jeannie Sneed, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, “Mitigating Cross-Contamination in the Food Flow” and “Federal Food Allergy Strategies”
“Advancements in Food Safety Education: Trends, Tools and Technologies" explores the latest communication trends, tools and technologies to best reach the consumer and affect consumer behavior and public awareness in an increasingly crowded information environment. The conference is of special benefit to food safety educators, who provide a strong link in the farm-to-table food safety chain by sharing information with both general and at-risk populations.
Nearly 60 food safety experts from the USDA, NSF International, FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies have worked for over a year to develop this conference. In addition, this conference has been assisted by more than 25 cooperating supporters consisting primarily of professional public health organizations.
Other sponsors of the 2010 Food Safety Education Conference are FDA, NSF/WHO Collaborating Centre for Food Safety, USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, CDC, and the Partnership for Food Safety Education.
The conference is sold out, but registration is still available and required for media representatives. Media interested in attending can either email [email protected] or visit http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Custom.aspx?cid=36&e=0076080c-a4e7-40b2-a429-e8b206e6c7cc.
The conference program is available at www.fsis.usda.gov/Atlanta2010. Click “Enter Conference Site,” then click the “Program” tab.
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