Industry experts feature at the highly anticipated Refrigerated Food Safety Forum 2015

The success of Smithers Pira’s leading Food Contact series of events has made way for the introduction of our newest senior level conference in partnership with Leatherhead Food Research- the Refrigerated Food Safety Forum, taking place on 30th September- 1st October 2015.

Taking place at the prestigious Thistle Marble Arch Hotel on Oxford Street and in the heart of Central London, we are very pleased to announce the agenda for Europe’s only food safety forum dedicated to the cold chain. With guest speakers from key brands and retailers Quorn Foods, McDonald’s, Ahold USA and Waitrose, as well as leading bodies the EDA, the FSA, the Danish Dairy Board Brussels and many more technical experts, this is one conference that you cannot miss!

Programme highlights include:

The opening session will look at what is currently happening in food safety on a global scale, providing delegates with a critical overview of food safety updates and highlighting regional challenges across the globe. Chaired by Chris Wells, Director of Scientific and Technical Services at Leatherhead Food Research, presentations in this session will cover the retailer Ahold USA’s perspective on food safety in North America, a UK regulatory perspective from the FSA, andregionalism and universality in the fresh dairy goods market from the European Dairy Association.

To close day one, the conference will focus on shelf-life. The session will take an in-depth look at trends, ingredients and microbial considerations related to food safety which are crucial when understanding and predicting shelf life or endeavouring to extend it. Presentations will include a look at the implications of microbial surveillance and foodborne diseases by Peter Wareing of Leatherhead Food Research. When we asked Peter what he thought  the key shelf life-related  challenges were facing manufacturers, he told us this:

“The biggest challenge is probably the drive to reducing sugar, salt and other preservatives from products; the quest for a ‘clean label’, coupled with lighter processing regimes for ready meals but still retain the shelf life.  Equally, increasing the shelf life is difficult because the recipe and intrinsic control factors will have been optimised for the current shelf life.  Usually, there is much more flexibility with dairy products, since many are fermented, which increases their safety factor considerably. The obvious challenges are to make sure that the products are still safe, and look and taste acceptable to the end of their shelf lives.”

Other talks in this session will cover technology-based strategies for extending shelf life by Tim Finnigan of Quorn Foods, shelf life monitoring technologies for the cold chain by Isreal Ben Tzur of BT9, plus many more.

Day two will look in to supply chain risks and traceability before pulling it all together with consumer best practises and talent engagement and retention in the industry.  With talks from Bizhan Pourkomailian of McDonald’s on knowing your product and preparing to answer consumer questions, DHL on distribution compliance for food on the move, plus many more, this session will provide timely case studies and advice, preparing you to answer the questions of an ever more intuitive public.

The full conference programme is available to view.

“With continual growth in the refrigerated food market and on-going food safety challenges, paired with heavy consumer demands for higher quality, longer lasting and more natural food products, there has never been a more prudent time for the industry to come together for crucial updates and to learn from one another. The 2015 agenda will engage all industry stakeholders and feature scientific and strategy-based case studies spanning refrigerated food safety across the value chain. With a very high level of interest in the area, this is an event not to be missed for 2015!” says Karla Sharp, Conference Producer.

Find out more about the Refrigerated Food Safety Forum 2015, including all the latest food news, here: www.refrigeratedfoodsafety.com