The 2021 Virtual Food Safety Summit continued at 10 a.m. CDT on May 12, 2021 with its annual Town Hall. Speakers included Steven Mandernach, J.D., executive director, Association of Food and Drug Officials; Robert Tauxe, director of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Sherri McGarry, M.S., senior health scientist, food safety office, CDC; and Sandra Eskin, deputy under secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Food Safety. The session was moderated by Gary Ades, Ph.D., G&L Consulting Group and chair of the Food Safety Summit’s Educational Advisory Board.
McGarry opened the webinar with some statistics on COVID-19 case reports and vaccination data. She reiterated what has been said in past Summit sessions, that there is no evidence of COVID-19 transmission from food or food packaging, and said that researchers have been collaborating with the FDA and USDA to amplify this information.