Food Safety Summit Educational Advisory Board Members Announced; Planning Begins for 2016 Event

ROSEMONT, IL--(Marketwired - Jul 16, 2015) - Food safety professionals from leading companies including McDonald's, Wegman's, Bloomin' Brands, Hormel Foods, Raley's, and academic and government agencies have joined The Food Safety Summit Educational Advisory Board (EAB) who will set the direction for the content of the education program for the 2016 event scheduled for May 10-12 in Rosemont, IL. The EAB will select and identify the high profile keynote presenters, hands on workshops, specialized training/education and detailed informational sessions. The EAB is comprised of industry leaders representing the entire food industry including, processors, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, foodservice operators, regulators and academia.

"We are very excited to work with this talented and highly respected Educational Advisory Board to produce another stellar Food Safety Summit program for 2016," says Scott Wolters, Director of The Food Safety Summit. "Our goal is to offer a solutions oriented program where real issues can be discussed and solutions discovered and with a good mix of returning EAB members as well as new members, we will be able to accomplish this goal."

The New EAB members include:

• Gary Acuff, PhD, Director, Texas A&M Center for Food Safety, Professor, Food Microbiology
• Chirag Bhatt - Regulatory Compliance Manager, Bloomin' Brands
• Robert Brackett, PhD, Vice President and Director Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology
• Richard Carlson - Vice President, Quality Management, Hormel Foods Corp.
• Gillian Kelleher - Vice President of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Wegmans
• Gina Kramer - Executive Director, Savour Food Safety International
• Mahipal Kunduru, PhD - Senior Director, Quality Systems, U.S. Supply Chain Management, McDonald's USA, LLC
• Arthur P. Liang, MD, MPH - Senior Advisor for Food Safety, CDC
• Donna Schaffner, MS - Associate Director, Food Safety, Quality Assurance & Training, Rutgers University
• Toni Hofer - Food Safety, Quality Assurance & Retail Compliance, Raley's Asset Protection, Risk and Safety

Returning EAB members include:

• Gary Ades, PhD- President, G&L Consulting Group
• Al Baroudi, PhD - VP, Quality Assurance & Food Safety, The Cheesecake Factory
• Joe Corby - Executive Director, Association of Food & Drug Officials
• Faye Feldstein - DC Senior Advisor, FED TS&A FHS, Deloitte Consulting LLP
• Jorge Hernandez - Sr. VP Food Safety & Quality Assurance, US Foods
• Hal King, PhD - Founder/CEO, Public Health Innovations
• Joan Menke-Schaenzer - Global Chief Quality Officer, ConAgra Foods, Inc.
• John Spink, PhD - Associate Director & Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
• Roberta Wagner - CFSAN Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs, FDA
• Patricia Wester - President, PA Wester Consulting
• Sharon Wood - Director, Food Safety & Quality Assurance, HEB

The planning process for the 2016 Summit is underway and prospective speakers are invited to submit an abstract by September 18, 2015 for consideration by the EAB. All session abstracts must be educational and non-commercial in nature. Vendors of food safety-related products or services should not submit an abstract that promotes their company or its products. Sales pitches and/or product-centric presentations (even if delivered with a customer co-presenter) will not be considered for inclusion in the conference program.

Sessions must address one of the following Food Safety Solutions:

• Allergens
• Auditing
• Crisis Planning
• Effective Risk Communications
• Emerging Issues Retail / Foodservice and Grocery Operations
• Environmental Monitoring
• FDA and USDA Regulations and Guidelines
• Food Fraud / Defense / Security
• Food Safety Modernization Act
• Global Food Supply
• GMPs and Prerequisite Programs
• HACCP
• HARPC
• Imports / Exports
• Interaction of Public and Private Sectors
• Interventions
• Market Trends and Landscape for the Future
• Packaging
• Pathogens
• Pest Control
• Predictive Microbiology and Testing
• Produce
• Quantitative Risk Assessment
• Sanitary Design of Equipment
• Sanitation
• Software Solutions
• Traceability
• Training
• Transportation / Distribution
• Protecting Products

To submit an abstract visit, http://www.foodsafetysummit.com/index.php/call-for-speakers .

About the Food Safety Summit:
The Food Safety Summit is the leading forum on food safety with an in-depth conference program offering solutions for today and planning for tomorrow, featuring the world's leading authorities examining the most up-to-date innovations in the food industry. The Food Safety Summit is designed to meet the educational and informational needs of the entire food industry and will be held Tuesday, May 10 through Thursday, May 12, 2016 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. Registration will be live in September 2015 and all updates on the conference are available at www.foodsafetysummit.com. For more information, call 847.405.4124.