Wednesday at the Food Safety Summit began with a keynote on the future of food safety culture. The presentation featured a panel of representatives from industry, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) who discussed their perspectives on the future, implementation, and importance of food safety culture. The panel was moderated by Shawn Stevens, Founder and National Food Industry Lawyer at Food Industry Counsel LLC. Panelists included Conrad Choinere, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN); Matthew Lash, Esq., Assistant Director of DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch; Donald Prater, D.V.M., Associate Commissioner for Imported Food Safety at FDA’s Office of Food Policy and Response; and Michael Roberson, M.S., C.F.S., C.P.-F.S., Director of Corporate Quality Assurance for Publix Supermarkets Inc.
Stacy Atchison, Publisher of Food Safety Magazine, kicked off the keynote presentation with warm welcomes and a message of gratitude. “It is exciting to come together again [in person], but that excitement is underscored by the weight of all that has occurred [during the COVID-19 pandemic],” she said. “Many of you were tasked with guiding your companies through uncharted territory to protect your fellow employees and keep safe food on the tables of families in your communities and around the world. So, thank you.”