Free Webinar for Food Industry on GRAS Determinations During Product Development

An upcoming webinar for industry hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) will demystify Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) determinations during the product development process. The webinar, which is free and is open to the public, will be held Friday, March 1, 2024 from 12:00–1:00 P.M. CT. Registration is required.

GRAS is a designation applied to ingredients that have been recognized as safe by qualified experts. The webinar, titled, “Decoding GRAS: Regulatory Understanding in the New Product Development Process,” will provide key insight to the regulatory journey of determining an ingredient as GRAS and will equip food and beverage professionals with the skills needed to efficiently navigate the process. “Decoding GRAS” will also serve as a preview to a Short Course of similar name, “GRAS Mastery: Regulator Understanding in the New Product Development Process” at the 2024 IFT FIRST Annual Event and Expo, where participants will earn a course certificate and gain access to resources on GRAS ingredient determinations.

The webinar will feature former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Steven Gendel, PhD. An internationally recognized expert on food safety, assessing new food products, and food policy and regulation, Gendel brings with him over two decades of experience advancing science and policy in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). As the first FDA Food Allergen Coordinator, he contributed to the creation of agency policies, guidance documents, and regulations.

In addition to the “Decoding GRAS” webinar and the IFT FIRST Short Course, IFT will host a members-only webinar that covers FDA’s food ingredient regulatory programs, including regulations around GRAS ingredients. The webinar, titled, “An Introduction to FDA’s Food Ingredient Regulatory Programs” will feature Katie Overbey, Ph.D., M.S., who serves as a Regulatory Review Specialist at FDA CFSAN. Attendees will gain knowledge on regulatory pathways and gain access to resources that can aid them in the process of identifying the regulatory status of ingredients. The exclusive event will be held Tuesday, April 2, 2024, from 12:00–1:00 P.M. CT.

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The Food Safety Magazine editorial team comprises Bailee Henderson, Director of Content Strategy and news editor ✉, and Adrienne Blume, M.A., Director of Editorial and Industry Engagement.