The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Stop Foodborne Illness are collaborating on a webinar series that explores food safety culture.

The series, entitled “Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety,”  is set for from 10:30 a.m. to noon ET Thursday, Nov. 4. This first session is called “Key Concepts in Addressing Food Safety Culture as a Science — Not a Slogan.”

Vanessa Coffman, director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness said, “We are thrilled to be co-hosting this exciting event with some of the top industry and regulatory officials who have really come together to explore how we can engrain food safety culture from the farm to that last mile food travels to the consumer’s table. This kick-off webinar sets the stage for the next set of interactive events which will explore the gaps in that continuum using the latest data gathered by food safety culture experts around the world.”

Food safety culture is one of the core elements in FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative. The New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint states that dramatic improvements in reducing the burden of foodborne illness cannot be made without doing more to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and, most importantly, the behaviors of people and the actions of organizations.

The webinar series will engage experts from the public and private sectors in a collaborative exchange of ideas and experiences related to the importance of a robust food safety culture in helping to ensure safe food production.

Scheduled speakers are:

• Co-host: Frank Yiannas, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response
• Co-host: Mike Tayler, Former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine
• Gillian Kelleher, President and CEO Kelleher Consultants, LLC
• Roberta Wagner, VP of Regulatory and Technical Affairs, Consumer Brands Association
• Conrad Choiniere, FDA Director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at CFSAN
• Donald Prater, FDA Associate Commissioner for imported Food Safety

The FDA officials say the series will have valuable information for those well-versed and those just learning about food safety culture.

Those interested can register for the webinar here.

about STOP: Stop Foodborne Illness is a public health non-profit organization. Since 1994, it has focused efforts on telling the “WHY” of food safety with personal advocate stories. “We are a small but mighty team of six and work tirelessly to end illness and death due to something as basic as eating because we are all at risk of foodborne illness,” according to the group’s website.