Food safety conference to focus on practicalities

The conference will identify food safety lessons based on the complexity of food supply chains, the need for continued vigilance to protect against contamination and fraud and the requirement for attention to detail in production systems, he said.

In this exclusive video, Dennis, former president of the Institute of Food Science & Technology and former director general of Campden BRI, went on to highlight the urgent need for greater understanding of supply chains in order to ensure accurate risk asessments.

“The horsemeat crisis made clear that key players among food manufacturers and retailers did not understand their supply chains. That made it difficult to know how they conducted proper risk assessments,”​ he added.

Did not understand supply chains​

Joining Dennis at the conference​ – to be staged at the National Motorcycle Museum, close to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre on October 17 – will be a stellar cast of food safety and consumer experts.

Taking part will be Andrew Rhodes, director of operations at the Food Standards Agency; David Brackston, technical director of the British Retail Consortium; and Sue Davies, chief policy adviser with consumer champion Which?

Authenticity expert Mark Woolfe will give an insight into food fraud, while Unilever’s science leader for allergy and immunology René Crevel will outline the latest thinking on allergen controls and action levels.

Intertek’s John Searle will explain how the ability to detect lower and lower levels of contaminants makes more companies vulnerable to potential product recalls.

Food safety culture​

NSF International’s David Edwards will advise on creating a strong food safety culture at work, with hazard analysis critical control points at its core.

Legal expert Dominic Watkins from DWF will share news of firms that have handled product recalls well and the costly consequences for those that did not.

Leatherhead Food Research’s head of food security Professor Tony Hines will advise on crisis management, while Infor’s Patrik Sjöberg will cover the latest traceability systems so you can stay one step ahead of the next recall.

Professor Robert Newman from Wolverhampton University will explain how technologies, such as radio frequency identification, can be used to identify and to trace food information across Europe from producer to consumer.

Details of our early bird ticket price offer can be found here​.

Alternatively, telephone Ellie Ray on 01293 610279 or email ellie.ray@wrbm.com