Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP), Cleaning and Sanitizing, Preventing Cross-Contamination, Temperature Control, and Quality Control will be some of the emerging issues featured during The 2020 Food Safety Summit educational program taking place October 19-22 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The agenda and world-renowned speaker faculty for this premiere event for food safety professionals has been announced and will feature sessions led by industry thought leaders; a keynote presentation on consumer-focused food safety; five certificate/certification courses; an opening session featuring an interactive journey through cross contamination scenarios; the 8th Annual Town Hall featuring FDA, AFDO, CDC and USDA and opportunities for community discussions. For access to the full program, visit www.foodsafetysummit.com.

"Food safety is more than just a standard set of best practices, and it's bigger than the bottom line. Every day, millions of people trust food safety professionals with their health and well-being at dinner tables across the country," said Scott Wolters, Chief Events Officer, BNP Media, producers of the event. "For 22 years, the Food Safety Summit has continued to address emerging issues, provide effective solutions, and serve as a forum for the food safety community to exchange ideas, network and make powerful connections. We look forward to gathering the industry together in Rosemont, IL in May for a dynamic event."

The Summit will kick off on Monday, October 19 with five certification and certificate courses. The five courses are FSPCA's Intentional Adulteration: Conducting Vulnerability Assessment; NEHA's Professional Food Safety Auditor Training and Certified in Comprehensive Food Safety (CCFS) courses; Converting HACCP in Preventive Controls/HARPC and Introduction to FDA-iRISK®. For details, visit https://www.foodsafetystrategies.com/agenda .

On Tuesday, October 20, a team from Commercial Food Sanitation will lead a 4-hour interactive journey through cross contamination scenarios and hands on simulations of food safety opportunities. The journey will include incidents, accidents, oversights, hits and misses. Allergens, foreign material contamination, pathogens and spoilage will be the focal point, in a session titled Play to Win - Food Safety 5K Competition. Also, on Tuesday, there will be a full day Environmental Sampling for Retail Establishment Outbreaks Workshop, where leaders from AFDO and the CDC will explain how environmental sampling supports activities such as environmental assessment and foodborne outbreak investigations. On Wednesday, May 6 Will Daniels, president of the Produce Division at IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group, will discuss Back to Basics: Consumer-Focused Food Safety during the keynote presentation.

"Over time, food production has moved away from focusing on feeding a family unit to feeding millions of servings per week. This shift has forced the industry to analyze risk matrices, audit compliance and the bottom line," said Will Daniels. "During this keynote we will address the impact of food safety policy and how influences like market pressure, consumer knowledge and food safety incidents are shaping companies' ability to meet the demands and change how we do food safety for the future."

The 2020 program will cover a wide range of topics through 26 education sessions on important issues such as food fraud, co-packers, allergens, cannabis, labeling, Hepatitis A, traceability, FSMA, and much more. On Thursday, October 22nd the top regulators and agency leaders from FDA, USDA, AFDO, and CDC will share the stage in an interactive session with the audience and each other. The format will be a true town hall - and attendees are invited to participate in the 75 minute Q&A session.

On Wednesday and Thursday, from 10:30 am - 2:30 pm there will be dedicated exhibit hall time for attendees to learn about new solutions and how to implement them; engage in small group discussions in the Community Hub; attend presentations by food safety experts in the Community Learning Lounge, on the Solutions Stages and in the Tech Tent; enjoy lunch and time to network with peers.

The sprawling exhibit hall at the Food Safety Summit is an essential resource for all attendees, bringing opportunity to meet with leading companies introducing the latest products and technologies in food safety. Click here to view the 2020 exhibitor list. Space is filling up fast and there are limited spaces available for exhibitors. Interested companies can contact Kim Hansen at hansenk@bnpmedia.com with any questions.