FOOD SAFETY IN A GLOBAL MARKET: CHALLENGES FOR AUTHORITIES, FOOD INDUSTRY AND ANALYTICAL STRATEGIES

June 19th 2014 (morning session)

Food safety is not only a matter of health protection. Food Safety is affected by a complex network of many stakeholders, economic groups and individuals. The complexity of the food chain is becoming more and more interdisciplinary and global. How can we assure food safety by the interplay of authorities, industry and last but not least by institutions that are responsible for education and teaching all over the world? Do we need novel and innovative strategies to ensure safe food or to overcome food fraud? Are there demands for new analytical approaches to assure product identification and food traceability?

The International Think Tank on Food Safety is an event that brings together leading food safety experts from Europe and USA to approach and discuss food safety globally. It provides the opportunity to learn about food safety along the whole food supply chain in a global context.

Key Issues

A: Authorities

    approaches for new international accredited standards in food quality and safety assessment and guidelines for the whole food supply chain (from farm to fork)
    regulations for governmental import and export inspections
    international accepted certification and risk assessment systems for foods
    Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA)
    Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed  (RASFF)

B: Food Industry

    food fraud
    safe delivery (carriers, importers and retailers) and preparation of the food (manufacturers)
    dynamic in-house quality management mechanisms
    food safety and quality assessment
    risk management
    traceability

C: Analytics, Research, Education and Teaching

    harmonized performance criteria for methods and their application in food for safety and quality analyses
    emerging technologies (e.g. rapid methods, Omics-cascade) and their applicability and reliability in routine testing
    demands for curricula (Universities)
    analytical strategies
    university curricula and professional development

Participants

Chairman of the Think Tank: Prof. Dr. Markus Fischer, Director Hamburg School of Food Science, University of Hamburg

Anchorman of the Think Tank: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Noehle, Otterndorf, GERMANY

A: Authorities

• Steven M. Musser, Ph.D., FDA (Food & Drug Administration), Deputy Center Director for Scientific Operations, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA (USA)
• Elke Anklam, PhD, European Commission, Directorate General Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (EU)
• Michael Beer, Director Food Safety Division, Federal Office of Public Health, Switzerland (neutral, non EU)
• Reiner Wittkowski, Ph.D, Prof., Vice President, BfR (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) BfR (Germany)

B: Food industry incl. retailer, wholesaler

• Anthony Hugget, Head Corporate Quality Management, Nestlé
• Silvio Raggini, Head Quality Management, COOP

C: Analytics, Research, Education and Teaching

• Christian Hummert, Ph.D., Director AGRI and CTS Food, SGS Germany (service provider)
• The audience: You in the audience know best what is your University doing for their students to fit to the requirements given by a global food market? Are there special curricula or programs at your University? What are you doing in your lab to fight e.g. against Food Fraud or for Safe Food in a global market?