Start your learning early and earn CEUs at a pre-conference workshop on Wednesday, March 1 from 2 to 5 p.m. Space is still available — and the offerings are terrific!
Harris Teeter: Enriching Lives One Meal, One Family, One Associate and One Community at a Time
As part of one of the largest grocery store companies in the US, Harris Teeter is a preeminent name on the East coast. This preconference session will provide a behind the scenes look at their food safety and compliance operations with a tour of a nearby retail location. Participants will also hear directly from corporate representatives and others on food safety at the stores.
Facilitator: Sarah Durham, Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Harris Teeter
Cost: $119
Date: Wednesday, March 1
Time: 2 to 5 p.m. EST
This pre-conference workshop is limited to 20 participants.
FDA’s Closer to Zero Action Plan – What’s the Food Safety Message?
This pre-conference workshop will provide participants with an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) work to reduce exposure to arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury from foods and educate caregivers on the important roles of food variety and nutrition in helping to protect growing children from the potential adverse health effects associated with these environmental contaminants.
Closer to Zero is an action plan launched by the FDA in 2021 to drive down levels of these heavy metals and metalloids in foods consumed by babies and young children to as low as feasible through guidance to industry on science and feasibility-based action levels. But this food safety issue is far from simple. Food sources of these contaminants are also sources of nutrients essential for child growth and development and include some of the healthiest foods recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Attention to this issue, therefore, could have unintended consequences such as parents avoiding foods that are nutritious because they hear the foods are a focus for contaminant reductions.
Promoting healthy food choices that have unavoidable levels of these contaminants presents several challenges. To create messages that educate and resonate with the public, the FDA is developing messages grounded in science and communications approaches informed by consumer studies and risk communication theory.
Presenters: Conrad Choiniere, Director, Office of Analytics and Outreach, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Food and Drug Administration; Kellie Casavale, Senior Science Advisor for Nutrition, Office of Analytics and Outreach, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, HHS; Lauren Cromer, Director of Nutrition Services/WIC , Metro Public Health Department, Nashville, TN; Cheryl Callen, Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs, Gerber Products/Nestle Nutrition; Tony Flood, Sr. Director, Food Ingredient Communications, International Food Information Council
Cost: $119
Date: Wednesday, March 1
Time: 2 to 5 p.m. EST
This pre-conference workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Flour Food Safety – from Farm to Fork
This workshop will introduce conference participants to practical and fun tools for educating about flour food safety. Participants will learn about wheat and flour from industry experts. A cooking demonstration will be followed by a focus group discussion where participants will be able to provide feedback on ways the flour milling industry can improve our approach to flour food safety education.
Part one: Jason Scott, wheat farmer from Maryland, will provide education on where wheat flour comes from including wheat farming, transportation and storage of grain. Juliany Rivera Calo, Senior Manager, Regulatory and Food Safety at Ardent Mills will talk about the milling process and how that impacts flour food safety.
Part two: Hailey Rogers, Research and Development Chef at Ardent Mills, will demonstrate a baking lesson plan using safe food handling recipes.
Part three: Sarah Hubbart and Jane DeMarchi of the North American Millers’ Association, will lead a brainstorming session with participants to get feedback on product packaging, education tools and messaging currently being used to promote flour food safety.
Cost: $119
Date: Wednesday, March 1
Time: 2 to 5 p.m. EST
This pre-conference workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Don’t Eat the Pseudoscience: Navigating Misinformation and Disinformation on Social Media Platforms
Sponsored by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), this pre-conference workshop will provide participants with foundational skills and tools to navigate misinformation on social media, coupled with best practices for engaging communicators and continuing to promote accurate food safety information. Participants will discuss the various types of misinformation and disinformation, review case studies involving misinformation about food safety topics, and practice responding to inaccurate or misleading information.
Food and health are two popular subject areas discussed on social media platforms. While social media is a great resource to access free information regarding a wide variety of topics, inaccurate and sometimes unsafe food information is promoted. Some “influencers” can easily circulate misinformation to millions of followers and subscribers with a single post, video, or comment. Choosing to engage with those spreading misinformation can inadvertently cause more harm than good if a deliberate approach is not used. Thoughtful and carefully crafted messages and strategies should be used to optimize the likelihood of an intended outcome.
Presenters: Dr. Nicole Arnold, Assistant Professor and Food Safety Field Specialist, Ohio State University Extension, The Ohio State University; Dr. Ellen Shumaker, Extension Associate and Director of Outreach for Safe Plates, NC State University
Cost: $119
Date: Wednesday, March 1
Time: 2 to 5 p.m. EST
This pre-conference workshop is limited to 30 participants.