Nothing’s Scarier Than Food Safety on Halloween

A press release on an impending food-safety symposium, set to take place at the end of the month—on Halloween of all frightful days—looks to toss some more strange bedfellows together for a day of public-affairs discussion. Of course, in my mind, I envision folks bedecked in larger-than-life E. coli and Listeria costumes caterwauling down the halls of the chosen Washington hotel as they multiply forces and snowball into the hotel kitchen in some sort of Gonzo giant-puppet street-theater demonstration of the immense power of microscopic entities … but maybe the Halloween date is more a matter of coincidence and the proceedings will be much more akin to typical Washington affairs, with blue suits, placards and straightforward dignity… (But at least I can dream…)

Despite my periodic cartoonish mental voyages, food safety is, indeed, one of the scariest subjects to hit the nation in recent years, and hopefully this symposium will shed some cross-sector light on such realities.

Without further ado, some highlights from the press release:

Consumer and Industry Leaders Collaborate to Promote Food Safety Innovation and Best Practices
Symposium to Highlight State-of-the-Art Practices for Controlling Foodborne Pathogens
WASHINGTON, DC; Oct. 3, 2007—In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, leaders of national consumer organizations and major food companies will jointly convene a public symposium on Oct. 31 at the Embassy Suites Convention Center Hotel in Washington, D.C. , to highlight opportunities for improving food safety through wider adoption of industry-developed “best practices.” Featuring senior executives and food safety leaders from industry, along with national consumer food safety advocates, the symposium will build awareness of food safety best practices among industry executives, consumer representatives, public officials, and food safety experts, and will explore the common interest of consumer and industry leaders in the promotion and wider adoption of best practices that go beyond the requirements of government regulation.
A year in the making, the symposium is being held under the auspices of Cooperating for Food Safety (CFS), a new, non-profit, consumer-led organization working to recognize the central importance of food industry commitment and innovation to improve food safety and to forge collaboration on best practices among consumers and leading food processors and retailers. CFS and several leading companies are working to establish an on-going CFS Forum as the vehicle for their collaboration, with the Oct. 31st symposium being the first joint effort.

It appears that the forum will feature three keynote addresses related to consumer, processing and retail—one for each sector:

• Nancy Donley, CFS Board Chair and President, Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.)—Keynote on Consumer Leader Perspective on Food Safety and Aspirations for the CFS Forum;
• Bill Buckner, corporate vice president, Cargill, Inc.—Keynote on Production and Processing Industry Perspective on Food Safety and Aspirations for the CFS Forum;
• Danny Wegman, chairman and CEO, Wegmans Food Markets—Keynote on Retail Industry Perspective on Food Safety and Aspirations for the CFS Forum.

As this forum looks to join several industries under the same roof, speakers from and addressing their various sectors will be in attendance:

• Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest—The Consumer Advocacy Perspective;
• Frank Yiannis, director of safety and health programs, Walt Disney World Corp.—Food Service Experience with Consumers on Food Safety;
• David Theno, senior vice president, quality and logistics, Jack in the Box—Lessons Learned from the Jack in the Box Experience.

And then they will address specific foods:

• Rick Roop, senior vice president, food quality assurance, Tyson Foods—Poultry Sector Best Practices;
• Charlie Sweat, president, Earthbound Farms—Produce Sector Best Practices;
• Kim Gorton, president, Slade Gorton & Co. Inc.—Seafood Sector Best Practices.

Other speakers will include:

• Craig Wilson, assistant vice president, food safety and quality assurance, Costco Wholesale Corporation—Retail Sector Best Practices;
• Catherine Adams, corporate vice president for worldwide quality, food safety and nutrition, McDonald’s—Opportunities to Improve Food Safety Through Best Practice Sharing;
• Carol Tucker Foreman, Consumer Federation of America—Opportunities and Obstacles for Best Practices;
• Michael C. Robach, vice president, corporate food safety and regulatory affairs, Cargill—Next Steps on Best Practices.

The press release goes on to state:

“Ensuring a safe food supply requires effective government regulation combined with continued innovation by all segments of the food industry to prevent or destroy bacterial contamination from the farm to the checkout counter, “ said Nancy Donley, CFS Board Chair. “This symposium will highlight what is possible now to advance food safety by shining a light on best practices across the food system from production to processing to retail and food service.”
The CFS Best Practices Symposium is expected to attract more than 200 consumer advocates, public health officials, food safety experts, food industry and policy makers. The forum will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM on October 31st at the Embassy Suites Convention Center Hotel, 900 10th Street, NW in Washington. More information about the symposium is available from Chris Waldrop chris@cooperatingforfoodsafety.org .

I’ll look forward to hearing if any major initiatives develop as a result of this gathering to make our food-safety climate a little less frightening in the coming months and years.