COVID 19 has changed the world. In the wake of this pandemic, food manufacturers have stood up to the challenge of performing as an essential business and have shown the world how well the industry responds to a crisis; working together to maintain a safe work environment for the employee while producing safe food. The impact of COVID-19 will be addressed in both a newly created opening session for the Food Safety Summit and the Keynote Address by Will Daniels, president, Produce Division, IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group who will discuss Back to Basics: Consumer Focused Food Safety. The rescheduled Summit will be taking place October 19-22, 2020 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, visit www.foodsafetysummit.com.

"The food industry has always risen to a crisis and taken a challenge head on. The result is usually very innovative and sometimes severe to reach the desired outcome. The COVID-19 pandemic response is no different. The food industry has stepped up the challenge and has developed some novel ways to protect their workforce," said Will Daniels. "Now is the time to change our paradigm and refocus on the consumer and their wellbeing. We must remember that the food we make goes into the mouths of the people we love and how important it is to have food safety programs that go above and beyond regulation to protect the consumer while still being profitable."

Some of the key themes Will Daniels will focus on include: the strong relationship between the cook and the consumer and how food safety is key to survival; how the industrialization of food has forced us to focus on costs and market share to compete and stay in business; and the impact of how government requires compliance to regulation that is designed to get rules that most everyone can live with, not necessarily the least amount of illness.

Daniels will answer such pressing questions as: What if we could use this time to change the way we think about our food safety programs and focus more on the consumer? Could we change the way our food system is subsidized and focus those dollars to food safety efforts? Can we personalize food safety in ways that makes the senior leadership in a company want to do more?

"We look forward to hearing from Will Daniels, who has been an integral part of our advisory board and always delivers impactful and insightful presentations, and we are certain this keynote will be timely and on-point," said Scott Wolters, chief events officer, BNP Media, producers of the Summit. "In order to reach the largest audience, we are also pleased to announce that we will be offering this keynote presentation and other select sessions from the Summit as recorded sessions, which will be available for download post event."

In addition to this dynamic Keynote Presentation, the Summit's opening half day workshop will focus on COVID-19: The New Normal for the Food Industry where attendees will hear, learn and discuss first hand with subject matter experts from epidemiology, regulatory, distribution, manufacturing, foodservice and retail on what they did to address the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis for their organizations, customers and consumers. Attendees will hear what worked, what did not work from experts and those on the front lines such as Steve Mandernach, executive director, Association of Food & Drug Officials; Jorge Hernandez, VP, Quality Assurance, The Wendy's Company; Craig Wilson, VP, GMM, Costco, and others.

The Food Safety Summit is the leading interactive forum on food safety with an in-depth conference program offering solutions for today and planning for tomorrow. The Summit features the world's leading authorities examining the most up-to-date innovations in the food industry. The event will start on Monday, October 19 and will offer four certificate/certification programs followed by three days of interactive education sessions along with a trade show floor with hundreds of exhibiting companies, Community Hub, Tech Tent and Learning Lounge to facilitate networking with attendees.

Registration is now open at https://www.foodsafetystrategies.com/registration/rates. Register before August 31, 2020 for special early bird pricing. For the complete agenda, click here. For additional information about exhibiting at the Summit or sponsorship opportunities contact Kim Hansen, National Sales Manager at 248-786-1233 or hansenk@bnpmedia.com. For additional information about the education sessions, visit www.foodsafetysummit.com.

The Food Safety Summit is produced by BNP Media (www.bnpmedia.com), one of the country's leading business-to-business media companies serving industry professionals across 60+ industries through magazines, custom media, e-newsletters, webinars, events and market research.