Will Daniels is president of the produce division at IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group. In this role, Will is responsible for lab and consulting services for the produce industry. Prior to joining IEH, Will was president and CEO of Fresh Integrity Group, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in operations and food safety consulting for the fresh produce and perishables industries.  Prior to his involvement with start-up companies, Will was with Earthbound Farm from 1999 until 2014. Having leadership roles in both quality assurance and operations, he helped the company grow from a small, regional salad producer to the nation’s largest grower, packer, and shipper of organic produce. As Earthbound Farm’s Chief Food Integrity Officer, Daniels was responsible for food safety, food quality, and the company’s organic integrity program. Before joining Earthbound Farm, Will worked for 15 years as a consultant in the foodservice sector; working in the back of the house designing menus, introducing food safety and, improving costs; he even had his own catering business. 

Will is a sought-after speaker and has addressed key issues in food safety in the produce industry at meetings of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Restaurant Association, the Institute of Food Technologists and the International Association for Food Protection. He was the keynote speaker at the 2020 Food Safety Summit. Will was one of the Packer 25 annual list of produce leaders for 2013 and was named one of the food industry’s top food safety leaders by Marler/Clark’s Food Safety News in 2013. He has also been featured in a variety of national news stories on food safety with media such as The New York Times and ABC News’s Good Morning America; he is the author of two book chapters, “Effectively Managing through a Crisis,” in Microbial Safety of Fresh Produce, published by Wiley in 2009 and “Pathogen Testing in Fresh Produce: Earthbound Farm,” in Global Safety of Fresh Produce; A Handbook of Best Practice, Innovative Commercial Collations and Case Studies, published by Woodhead Publishing in 2014. An active leader in the food industry, Will serves on a variety of boards and technical committees including the Food Safety Magazine editorial advisory board.

To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2025 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with keynote speaker Jason Evans, Ph.D., Dean, College of Food Innovation and Technology, Johnson & Wales University; as well as Brian Ronholm, M.A., Director of Food Policy, Consumer Reports; Michael Fang, Co-Founder, Spectacular Labs; and Steven Lyon, Ph.D., Director, Food Safety—Field Operations, Chick-fil-A Inc.; Purni Wickramasinghe, Ph.D., Food Safety & Restaurant Solutions, Chick-fil-A Inc.

Christian Ararat, M.Sc., M.Eng. is a food safety professional with more than ten years of experience in food safety and quality. After earning a bachelor's degree in Food Science from Valley University in Colombia, he began his career in the bakery industry, where he implemented and enforced good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and prerequisite programs. After moving to Canada, Christian joined Natursource Inc., a Montreal-based food manufacturing company dedicated to producing healthy snacks.

Savannah Applegate, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Applegate received her B.S. degree in Meat Science from Ohio State University and her M.S. degree and Ph.D. in Applied Food Microbiology from Texas Tech University. Her areas of expertise are meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in diagnostics and pathogen mitigation.

Alfredo Fernández, J.D. is an attorney and Partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP. As a member of the firm's national Environmental Practice, Alfredo advises clients across industry types on environmental, health, and safety issues that arise in all areas of business operations. Risk management pertaining to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is one area of focus. Alfredo also counsels private and public entities regarding abatement of hazardous materials and conditions. He received his J.D. from University of Connecticut School of Law and holds a B.S. degree from the University of Michigan.

Edward G. Dudley, Ph.D. is the Director of the E. coli Reference Center and a Professor of Food Science at the Pennsylvania State University. He has a broad background in molecular biology, physiology, and foodborne bacteria genomics, with expertise in both beneficial and pathogenic species. His current research program focuses on factors that drive the virulence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and the development of DNA sequence-based methods for tracking pathogen spread during foodborne illness outbreaks, including wastewater monitoring. 

Phil Kafarakis is the President and CEO of IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, formerly known as the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. He is responsible for overseeing IFMA's day-to-day operations and directing the activities of the association in support of its policies, goals, and objectives. Phil is a highly accomplished senior executive with broad experience leading major food industry companies and associations. He began his industry career in the manufacturing sector, successfully leading and managing businesses at Kraft, Jones Dairy Farm, Cargill, and McCormick & Co., where he also served on IFMA's Board of Directors. He also previously served as President of the Specialty Food Association (SFA) and as the Chief Innovation and Member Advancement Officer at the National Restaurant Association (NRA).