For the 20th year, the Food Safety Summit will provide an in-depth schedule of education sessions when it returns May 7-10 to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Professionals from every part of the food safety supply chain will have the opportunity to take advantage of seven certification courses, two dozen education sessions, a keynote presentation, interactive town hall, case studies, discussion groups, several networking events and a tradeshow floor featuring 200-plus exhibitors.

“This year, the Food Safety Summit has organized a show that focuses on addressing food safety throughout the supply chain by hosting a program that emphasizes how each community that makes up the ecosystem is connected. It is vital to understand not only the specific roles and responsibilities that make up the industry but also those in the rest of the process,” said Scott Wolters, director of tradeshows and conferences for BNP Media, the producer of the event, in a statement. “We are working with leaders in each of the four areas of the supply chain that we are focusing on to provide extraordinary content in the education sessions and terrific networking opportunities with subject matter experts on the tradeshow floor.”

This year’s Summit will feature a keynote presentation from Carletta Ooton, Amazon’s vice president of health and safety, sustainability, security and compliance. Ooton will discuss the company’s unique business model and how Amazon is transforming food safety through big data and technology. Ooton’s keynote will take place May 9.

In addition to the keynote, the following highlights will be included in the conference:

• Certification and Training Courses: The Food Safety Summit seeks to help advance knowledge among the food industry to meet regulatory requirements and to help all members of the food industry get the training they need to do their jobs. Courses include HACCP and Seafood HACCP, Preventive Controls for Animal Food, Foreign Supplier Verification, Preventive Controls for Human Foods, Auditor Training and the Certified in Comprehensive Food Safety course.
• Focus on the Supply Chain: On May 8, the comprehensive conference content will address the importance of food safety throughout the supply chain and how each community that makes up the ecosystem is connected.
• Educational Programs: These 26 sessions will cover important topics including traceability, regulations, FSMA, foodborne outbreaks, big data, food fraud prevention, microbial interventions, copackers, cold chain and more.
• New Community Cafés: At this year’s Summit, visitors will be able to stop by one of the four Community Cafés on the exhibit hall floor to ask questions and continue conversations with subject matter experts, who will be facilitating discussions, as well as with their peers. Four areas will be set up to reflect the sectors of the supply chain: manufacturer/processor/supplier; distributor; retailer/foodservice; and regulatory.

To learn more about the Summit and to register, visit FoodSafetySummit.com. BI