9th Annual Food Safety Summit

About

New and exciting focus for 2010 – Regulatory and Technical issues
Mark your calendar for the 9th Annual Food Safety Summit; a focus on the technical and regulatory aspects of food safety.  This two-day event features a wide range of food safety stakeholders who will cover a range of key areas including the new Food Act, industry standards and technical sessions such as food forensics, allergens, nanotechnology, biofilms and hygiene control.

Who attends this event and why should you be there?
The 9th Annual Food Safety Summit will attract a wide range of people from the food industry with a majority of attendees coming from the manufacturing sector along with others from retail operations, research and public health sectors.  Past delegates have included technical managers, food safety managers and advisors, quality assurance and compliance managers and quality systems managers.   

Hear thought provoking presentations from key industry stakeholders:
Food Standards Australia New Zealand – New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology – AgResearch – ESR – Food Innovation  Nutricia – Contract Bottling Company – Lion Nathan – AUT – Ecolab – Restaurant Association of New Zealand 

A unique opportunity to network and increase your knowledge base
It doesn’t matter where in the food industry you come from, the issue of food safety is an important one.  It is essential to keep on top of the latest changes in the regulatory environment, technical and scientific advances and learn from others in the industry.  This conference aims to facilitate knowledge and give you the opportunity to network and discuss key ideas with other food safety stakeholders.  By attending the Food Safety Summit in 2010 you will be armed with a raft of relevant knowledge and practical advice to take back to your workplace; giving you the confidence to take the best possible steps to mitigate risks and undertake effective food safety procedures.

Two for One Deal
There is no excuse to miss out on this event with our special Two for One Deal, if you register two people from your organisation at the same time, the 2nd person attends free!

Agenda

Agenda: Day 1

8.30

Registration and coffee

9.00

Opening remarks from the Chair

Dr Sally Hasell, Consultant, Hasell Consulting Ltd
Past President, New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology

How will changes to the regulatory environment impact your organisation’s food safety procedures?

9.05

The impacts of the revised Food Safety Act on industry

The new Food Act should be in place by late 2010 or early 2011, significantly impacting the industry. This update will provide key information for stakeholders on how this introduction will impact industry.
• The new roles of the NZFSA, councils, food operators and consumers in ensuring food safety
• Tailored Food Control Plans – off-the-peg or custom made
• National Programmes – sector and risk dependent
• Food Handler Guidance

Wanda Whitton-Esteve, Quality Assurance Manager, Goodman Fielder

9.40

Food marketing and recent prosecutions under the Fair Trading Act

There have recently been prosecutions under the Fair Trading Act regarding incorrect claims about food products. Joe will discuss some of the most relevant cases and how this area of the law can impact you.
• What you need to know – legal requirements as a producer
• Role of the Commerce Commission
• The implications of recent court decisions

Joe Edwards, Senior Solicitor, Russell McVeagh

10.20

Morning tea

10.40

How to deal with the new regulatory environment in Year 1 of transition

Several sectors are intended for registration in Year 1 of the transition to the proposed Food Act; including restaurants, cafes and bars. Steve will discuss what the new regulations and requirements to the hospitality industry mean and how they are going about preparing for regulatory changes.
• How the new regulations will be implemented by the hospitality industry
• Challenges faced by business operators
• Benefits of a national restaurant grading system and a shift in responsibility

Steve Mackenzie, CEO, Restaurant Association of New Zealand

Control and manage hazards and risks in your organisation

11.20

Interactive Learning: Establishing and maintaining a product recall crisis capability

This session will outline the nature of a product recall crisis, a range of potential complexities and what is required to manage the overall response. Matthew will address how to establish the overall product recall capability to incorporate best practice crisis management techniques, and how to keep it maintained.
• Stages of product recall crisis response from activation to resolution
• Management team structure & key roles to include to manage the overall response
• Complex product recall issues
• How to quickly and efficiently develop a best practice product recall capability
• How to maintain product recall readiness that is capable of addressing complex situations

Matthew Collins, Director, Fast Track Solutions

12.20

Case Study: The challenges faced in implementing a HACCP system (Case Study)

For small and medium sized companies implementing an HACCP system provides many challenges; not having the required knowledge to implement a system and thinking there is an adequate food safety system already in place. An inside look at how companies in this situation have implemented their HACCP system will be discussed.
• Overview of existing systems in place
• Problems and challenges in implementing a HACCP system
• Lessons to take from this process

Dr Wolfgang Hiepe, HACCP Coordinator (NZQA)
Jan Wuis, Food Technology Consultant, FoodInc

1.00

Lunch

1.40

Case Study: Quality assurance and quality control at Nutricia NZ (Case Study)

Making sure that systems & structures are in place so that quality is at the forefront of the food producers mind is imperative. Nutricia (Division of Danone Nutrition) have employed high standards to ensure that their products are as safe as possible. This session will outline their current quality assurance & quality control systems and discuss how they have been successful in maintaining high standards.

Tanuja Bastiampillai, Quality & Food Safety Manager, Nutricia

2.20

Nanotechnology – how will this technology be applied in the future? (Case Study)

Nanotechnology is emerging with a raft of current and future applications in the agri-food industry. On-farm, in-food and around-food applications will be discussed with particular emphasis on their implications for food safety and the environment. We will also discuss how non-food nanotechnologies might affect safety considerations for food.

Dr Nigel Larsen, Science Group Leader, Food Innovation

3.00

Cold chain risks and control

There are many hazards present when transporting and distributing food products; these hazards need to be managed effectively to ensure food safety. Guill will focus on the transportation of meat in containers for both national and international markets and will discuss how the special challenges associated with this are managed.

Guill LeRoux, Senior Scientist, AgResearch

Allergens – Effective management is imperative to maintaining food safety

3.55

Testing for allergens – protecting both the consumer and the manufacturer

At ESR testing is undertaken to identify the presence of allergenic material in processed foods. This session will provide more information about how allergens are identified and tested and why testing is essential.
• Consumer complaints can be investigated
• Both raw and finished products can be tested and certified allergen free
• Sanitation methods can be validated

Craig Houston, Laboratory Manager, ESR

4.35

Food allergens in industry – mitigating the risk of problems arising

Food allergens are managed in different ways throughout the manufacturing process.
• Integrating all allergen hazards into their HACCP system- a systematic approach
• Making sure labelling is accurate and clear - VITAL
• Putting in place validated controls – scheduling, segregation, isolation and cleaning
• Dealing with unlabelled allergens – having appropriate recall systems in place
• Working with suppliers – communication and full disclosure

Torben Sorensen, Director, Sorensen Laboratories

5.15

Closing remarks by Chair

5.20

Networking drinks

Relax, unwind and network with speakers and colleagues over complimentary drinks.

Agenda: Day 2

9.00

Opening remarks from the Chair

Dr Sally Hasell, Consultant, Hasell Consulting Ltd, Past President, New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology
Making food safety part of your organisations blueprint

9.05

Labelling – how labelling impacts on food safety and what the future looks like?

Food labelling is an important issue for the food industry and is of key importance to consumers. This session will look at current issues in the labelling debate including issues such as the role of labelling in food safety, what consumers really want, matching consumer expectations and the role of food regulation. How might this play out in the future?

Diane Bourn, Senior Project Manager, Food Standards Australia New Zealand

9.50

Case Study: Working towards achieving the BRC Standard in NZ (Case Study)

Part 1: The Challenges involved in meeting the BRC Standard
The Contract Bottling Company has recently achieved the BRC Standard. This session will look at the process involved in achieving this standard, challenges that were faced, and how problems were overcome. Kate will look at how this Standard has impacted on production processes and lessons for other companies will be shared.

Part 2: Incorporating the BRC Standard into a Greenfield site
In Auckland, Lion Nathan has 2 sites; Lion Breweries and the Contract Bottling Company which were both ISO and food safety accredited. Now they are moving operations to a Greenfield site which creates challenges with regards to incorporating BRC Standards into their new site. Peter will discuss how Lion Nathan has built upon their existing capabilities in the food safety arena to achieve this Standard and the process they have gone through to achieve this.

Kate Mehrtens, Quality Assurance Manager, Contract Bottling Company
Peter Krafft, Technical Projects Leader, Lion Nathan

10.50

Morning tea

11.10

Connecting the dots in food safety - A global view, using global standards and technologies to enhance food safety

Being able to identify the origins of food products through the supply chain is essential; it gives us the ability to trace contamination and problems back to the source.
• Traceability systems being used in NZ
• The future of traceability and its role in enhancing effective food safety control systems
• Product recalls – how traceability systems can control these situations
• International food safety requirements – the impact on NZ

Owen Dance, Manager Quality Services, GS1 New Zealand

11.55

Managing Listeria in ready-to-eat-foods

Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most virulent foodborne pathogens and can be found in a variety of food products such as seafood, meat and milk products. An outbreak can have devastating consequences both in terms of human life and economic outcome for a company. Sally will discuss the key areas of:
• Managing the risk of Listeria – where the focus must be
• The risk posed by the new raw milk products

Dr Sally Hasell, Consultant, Hasell Consulting Ltd

12.40

Lunch

1.30

Food Forensics – Finding out where the bad guys come from

There are many contaminants which can end up in food products which are bound for human consumption. Food forensics aims to find out how these contaminants made it there; whether by broken machinery, poor food handling practices, or someone making a false claim putting the manufacturers’ reputation on the line.
• Proving how a contamination occurred
• The ability to learn from incidents
• Why food safety needs to be at the forefront of any food producing company

Darren Saunders, Scientist, ESR

Dealing with contaminants and advancing food safety

2.15

Biofilms: What the food industry needs to know

Biofilms allow bacteria to survive in the environment and can be the cause of foodborne illnesses; posing serious risks to food safety. This session will provide more information about biofilms and the impacts they have on the food industry.
• How contamination occurs during food processing
• Controlling biofilm formation – methods to reduce and remove their formation
• Problems associated with bacterial resistance to microbial compounds

John Brooks, Professor of Food Microbiology, School of Applied Science

3.00

Afternoon tea

3.15

Can you afford your hygiene programmes to fail?

Five top tips to ensure consistent quality
Poor process hygiene always impacts on bottom line performance, whether it is from lost product, lost customers or the catastrophic impact of a food safety incident. Despite the potential for negative impact, the focus and value given to hygiene programme management in many food operations does not reflect the relative risk of failure. After many years of experience and observation in the food industry the same five key components surface in every case of food safety and/or quality issues. This session will provide practical information on the critical management and process factors to address that will ensure effective hygiene risk management.

David Lowry, Technical Manager - Food Safety Programs (Pacific), Ecolab

4.00

Closing remarks from the Chair and end of conference

Sponsors/Partners

Interested in sponsorship?

There are some exclusive opportunities to promote your company, and its products and services, at this leading event. Contact the sponsorship team below to request a prospectus or discuss the options, or view more about event sponsorship.