The 2021 Food Safety Summit is hosting four pre-event webinars as part of the education program. The next in the series, Restaurant Policies and Practices Related to Norovirus Outbreaks, is taking place on Wednesday, February 24 at 1:00 pm CT, featuring experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and North Carolina State University. The session will be moderated by Food Safety Magazine, producers of The Food Safety Summit, and sponsored by GOJO Industries, Inc., the makers of PURELL®. Registration for the webinar and full virtual conference program, taking place May 11–13, is now available at www.foodsafetysummit.com.

“Human norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne disease. The retail food sector, including restaurants and catering establishments, is a common venue for these outbreaks. In this session, speakers will provide up-to-date information on norovirus outbreaks in restaurant settings and characteristics, policies, and practices that may increase or decrease the likelihood of an outbreak,” said Barbara VanRenterghem, Ph.D., Editorial Director, Food Safety Magazine and moderator of the session. “We look forward to hearing from our esteemed panelists who will provide the audience with the most up-to-date information available.”

Based on a recent study published by CDC, a brief scientific overview of these characteristics, policies, and practices will be provided. A regulatory representative will then discuss codified policies and procedures to control norovirus in restaurants, and an industry leader will describe how those are implemented in real life. There will be ample time for audience interaction with speakers, focusing on professional experiences with norovirus outbreaks and successes, failures, barriers, and considerations for future policies and practices that are grounded in science and achievable by the industry. Speakers in this session, include:

• Lee-Ann Jaykus, Ph.D., William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor & NoroCORE Scientific Director, North Carolina State University
• Anita Kambhampati, M.P.H., Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Hal King, Ph.D., CEO/Managing Partner, Active Food Safety
• Glenda Lewis, M.S.P.H., Director, Retail Food Protection Staff, FDA

This complimentary Webinar Series is being offered leading up to the Summit as part of the overall education program. Topics include:

• International Impact of Imports on the Food Supply – taking place Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 1:00–2:00 pm CT. The presenter will be John Spink, Assistant Professor, Department of Supply Chain Management, Michigan State University Business College, www.FoodFraudPrevention.com and the webinar is sponsored by Neogen
• How to Effectively Work with Departments in Your Company – taking place Tuesday, April 13, 2021 from 1:00–2:00 pm CT presented by Sharon K. Beals, Senior VP, Food Safety & Quality, CTI Foods
• Foodborne Illness Outbreak Mock Criminal Trial – A View from the Jury Box featuring Shawn Stevens and Joel Chappelle, Food Industry Counsel, LLC. This session is available On Demand at this link.

The 2021 Food Safety Summit, taking place May 11–13 virtually, will offer three free general sessions, including a Keynote Presentation on The New Role and Responsibilities of The Food Safety Professional in The COVID-19 World presented by Craig Wilson, Vice President, GMM, Costco. The 10th Annual Town Hall will feature AFDO's Steve Mandernach; CDC's Dr. Robert Tauxe; USDA's Paul Kiecker; FDA's Frank Yiannas; and Sherri McGarry, CDC Liaison to FDA for Food Safety. The closing day general session, Let’s Work the Problem People – A Guide to Flexible Crisis Planning, will feature some of the best and brightest in the industry on how to build and take an incident management plan beyond what is on the page to create a program that is taught, practiced, and continuously managed to ensure that your company can handle any incident with flexibility, agility, and success. 

The virtual expo hall will feature dozens of exhibitors showcasing the newest products and services for the food safety industry including Gold Sponsor Purell and Bronze Sponsor Elisa Technologies. Education opportunities continue in the exhibit hall in the Tech Tent and Solutions Stage with informative presentations. For more information, on sponsorship or exhibiting opportunities, contact Kim Hansen at hansenk@bnpmedia.com or Adam Haas at haasa@bnpmedia.com. For more information and updates for the 2021 event, visit www.foodsafetysummit.com or follow on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. 

The Food Safety Summit is owned and produced by Food Safety Magazine (www.food-safety.com) and 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.