Over 1,000 food industry professionals gathered together in Washington, US, this week for the Fourth Annual Food Safety Summit, the largest event in the US for food safety.
In light of terrorist events on September 11 it comes as no surprise to learn that the key topic of the event was food security. This was the subject of a keynote address by Homeland Security Director Gov. Tom Ridge.
"Food security and the risks of bioterrorism are the newest challenges for the food industry,'' said Scott Goldman, president of Eaton Hall Expositions. "The Summit provided a forum for leaders from all sectors of the food industry to gather and share ideas and strategies on keeping our food supplies safe in a changed world.
We are positive that everyone who attended walked away with new and valuable information to bring back to their colleagues, and that this will ensure that we continue to have the safest food supply in the world,'' he added confidently.
The conference began with a half-day seminar on food security presented by the National Food Processors Association, co-sponsors of the event. It covered assuring food security in a food plant, protecting products from tampering and assessing the risk of a bioterror event in the food supply. The workshop included speakers from the FBI, the US Surgeon General's office, US Air Force, John Hopkins University and the National Restaurant Association.
The organisers reported that attendance at the event was up more than 15 per cent from last year and exhibition space grew by more than 25 per cent. The Summit was sponsored by the National Food Processors Association (NFPA), the National Restaurant Association and Food Safety Magazine.