The Food Safety Tech’s Hazards Conference Series and CFI Think Tank is slated for April 3-5 in Columbus, OH. Co-developed by the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI) at The Ohio State University and Food Safety Tech, the conference will feature industry and academia experts offering practical guidance and cutting-edge research on the Detection, Mitigation, Control, and Regulation of Salmonella, Listeria and Mycotoxins.

The conference program will feature speakers such as:

• Sandra Eskin, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA will discuss the Proposed Regulatory framework to Reduce Salmonella Illness;
• Bill Marler, food safety attorney with Marler Clark LLC will co-present with Shawn Stevens, attorney with Food Industry Counsel on The Legal and Financial Risks of Food Safety Hazards;
• Barbara Masters, DMV, VP, Regulatory Policy, Food & Agriculture, Tyson Foods who will present Salmonella: What We’ve Learned and Remaining Gaps in Detection and Mitigation;
• “Dr. Al” Baroudi, VP Quality Assurance & Food Safety, The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. and Ahmed Yousef, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, OSU, will co-present on The use of Ozone as a kill step for fresh produce and other applications;
• Sanjay Gummalla, Ph.D. Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs, America Frozen Foods Institute will co-present with Rashmi Rani, Senior Manager of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Schwan’s Home Delivery, on Mitigation and Control of Listeria and Salmonella;
• Charles Giambrone, M.S., Food Safety Programs Coordinator, Rochester Midland Corp., will discuss Mitigation and Control of Biofilms in a food processing environment;
• Stacy Vernon, Food Safety Specialist & Project Manager, CIFT, will present research on RTE Meats and Ice Cream – Mitigating Listeria Risks & Responding to Contamination; and
• Janet Buffer, Associate Director — Grants, Research & Projects, Center for Foodborne Illness & Prevention, OSU, will review her research on Listeria in the Retail Food Environment.

The CFI Food Safety Think Tank on April 5 will bring food safety experts together to take a deeper look at the hazards discussed during the first two days of the conference. Participants will brainstorm in small groups to develop a roadmap on research, innovation, policy, and prevention measures that need to be taken to make our food supply safer in the future. A Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI) fundraiser dinner is also scheduled for Tuesday night.

Attendees have several options to participate in the conference:

• Option 1 is to attend in person, wher travel expenses will be low, and attendees will only be out of the office for two days. 
• Option 2 is to attend virtually with an Enterprise Virtual-only Registration. 
• Option 3 is a combination of virtual and in-person attendance. The Enterprise Combination Virtual & On-site Registration is a corporate registration that provides one on-site registration and unlimited virtual participants from an organization for the same price as virtual-only registration.

Registration for the conference is now open, and attendees who enter the code FSN will receive a 15 percent discount.