FAPC to host national food safety conference
By Ruth Bobbitt
FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant
Food industry professionals are invited to register for the Food Industry Trends Conference to be held Sept. 13-14 in Oklahoma City. The Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center will host this new national food safety conference.
More than 100 food industry representatives are expected at the event, which will openly discuss new food safety issues and solutions, as well as food traceability technologies and regulatory issues driving those technologies.
“FAPC research and development focuses on food safety and effective pathogen interventions from raw and cooked food products to minimize food safety risks,” said Chuck Willoughby, FAPC business and marketing relations manager and conference chair. “We are pleased to offer a national conference that will encourage discussion and collaboration about food intervention strategies.”
The two-day conference will feature three keynote sessions in which participants will hear from 13 national food industry leaders. Session topics include Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), changes in regulatory issues, the media’s impact on food safety, epidemiological traceability, probiotics, raw and ready-to-eat meat and seafood processing, and leafy greens processing.
David Acheson, Food and Drug Administration assistant commissioner for food protection, will discuss food safety regulatory issues. Yifen Wang, food safety expert for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, will discuss food traceability and identification technologies. A complete agenda and list of speakers is posted on the conference Web site.
“Because this conference focuses on trends in the industry and not just intervention strategies, we believe it will be of interest to not only quality assurance professionals, but also operations managers and CEO’s as well,” Willoughby said.
The conference is expected to sell out soon, and interested parties are encouraged to register now. Participants may register by phone at 405-744-6489 or online at www.fapc.biz/pages/fitconference.
Registration for the conference is $350 before Aug. 21 and $500 after that date. Registration includes all conference activities, program materials and lunch on Sept. 13.
Other sponsors include the Oklahoma Department of Public Health, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
For more information about the conference, visit www.fapc/biz/pages/fitconference. For more information about FAPC, call 405-744-6071.
- ### -
CONTACT:
Chuck Willoughby
Business Planning and Marketing Relations Manager
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
148 FAPC
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-6071
Fax: 405-744-6313
E-Mail: chuck.willoughby@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.
