Name: Transforming Food Safety Through Digitalization and AI—Are You Ready?
Start: 2025-02-26T11:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-02-26T00:00:00-05:00

The food sector has, for many years, grappled with how best to embrace digitalization. In 2024, there was a growing recognition that the time is right for a significant step forward, and the industry is actively moving ahead with this transformation. In this webinar, industry leaders Kimberly Coffin, an LRQA expert, Bizhan Pourkomailian, Ph.D., from McDonald’s, and Melody Ge from TreeHouse Foods Inc., will discuss how digitalization is transforming food safety and supply chains. The panel will discuss the practical applications of digital technologies, highlight real-world examples, and critically assess whether the sector is ready to embrace artificial intelligence (AI). While AI often dominates the conversation around digital innovation, the session will challenge whether the food sector truly needs AI right now—or whether its greatest gains lie in adopting foundational digital tools and systems. The discussion will provide actionable insights for businesses at all stages of their digital journey, focusing on the solutions that drive meaningful change.

Key topics to be covered include:

The role of digitalization in addressing food safety challenges
Practical examples of digital transformation from McDonald’s
The potential of AI in food safety—are we ready to embrace it?

Speakers:

Kimberly Coffin, Global Technical Director, Supply Chain Assurance, LRQA. Kimberly is passionate about helping global food businesses understand, manage, and mitigate the risks to their products and brands. She has built her reputation as a thought leader in food safety and supply chain risk through more than 30 years of deep-domain food sector expertise, working for and with leading global food companies and associated service organizations across major world markets. Kimberly has extensive experience as a technical professional specializing in design, development, implementation, assessment, and training within the arena of retail agri-food risk management systems, specifically relating to auditing principles and more broadly to the control of food safety, product quality, authenticity, and legality.

Bizhan Pourkomailian, Global Director, Food Safety, Restaurant and Distribution, McDonald’s. Bizhan holds an hons. degree in Biochemistry, a Ph.D. in Microbial Physiology from Aberdeen University, an M.B.A. degree from Warwick University, and is a visiting professor at Cranfield University. His professional career began in 1994 with Unilever conducting research in S. aureus, Bacilli, and managing the botulinum laboratory. In 1997, he moved to Leatherhead Food International as Principal Scientist, engaged in developing, training, and auditing food safety systems across the supply chain. In January 2000, he joined McDonald’s Europe as Food Safety Manager overseeing food safety systems across the European supply chain. His responsibilities grew to cover packaging safety, crisis management, and social accountability. In 2015, he was promoted to Global Director for Restaurant and Distribution. Throughout his career, Bizhan has been responsible for establishing, maintaining, and driving continuous improvement of food safety systems, culture, and requirements. He serves on various advisory boards and committees with professional bodies and academia, including EFSA emerging risk, BRCGS, FSSC, and ISO.

Melody Ge, Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality Operations, TreeHouse Foods Inc. Melody Ge is the Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality Operations at TreeHouse Foods Inc., where she is responsible for fostering a positive safety and quality operations culture across TreeHouse manufacturing facilities. With over 15 years of experience in food safety, quality, and social responsibility, Melody has held various roles across different stakeholder positions, including GFSI CPOs, retailers, manufacturers, and food safety testing labs. Melody Ge is Six Sigma Black Belt certified, a registered PCQI Lead Instructor, and an SQF Trainer. Before joining TreeHouse, Melody served as the FSQA Director at StarKist and held the position of Vice President of Governance, Intelligence, and Analytics at Neogen Analytics (Corvium). Prior to that, she was a senior consultant and Deputy QA Director at Lidl U.S., where she established the QA department for Lidl's U.S. expansion. Earlier in her career, Melody worked as a Compliance Manager at SQFI, overseeing auditing results, certification bodies, and code development. She began her career as the Technical Director at J-Green (Beyond Meat). Melody holds both M.S. and B.S. degrees in Food Science and Engineering and is certified in Data Science.

Moderator: Adrienne Blume, Editorial Director, Food Safety Magazine

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