Preliminary Program Set for IAFP 2015

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Des Moines, Iowa - The International Association for Food Protection set the Preliminary Program for IAFP 2015 – the Association’s Annual Meeting, July 25–28 in Portland, Oregon. The meeting has earned recognition as the leading food safety conference. Online registration and preliminary program information are available on the Association Web site (http://www.foodprotection.org/annualmeeting/).

The meeting begins Saturday evening, July 25, with the Opening Session featuring the Ivan Parkin Lecture, followed by the Cheese and Wine Reception held in the Exhibit Hall. This year’s honored lecturer is Rhona S. Applebaum, Ph.D., The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, Georgia. Sunday morning starts three days of sessions with more than 1,200 presentations including 66 symposia, 8 roundtable sessions, 144 technical presentations, and 740 poster presentations. A sample of symposia topics include: The Evolving Patterns for Publishing Science; Pre-harvest Control of Zoonoses: Opportunities and Hurdles; Preventing Foodborne Illnesses from Donated or Recovered Foods; and Nanotechnology Based Approach for the Inactivation of Foodborne Microorganisms. The Annual John H. Silliker Lecture will be presented on Tuesday afternoon, featuring Francis (Frank) Busta, Ph.D., Director Emeritus of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD), based at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. For additional educational opportunities, IAFP 2015 will present four pre-meeting workshops on July 23 and July 24.  

Sunday’s agenda includes a presentation by motivational speaker Merlin Mann. On Tuesday, “U.S. Regulatory Perspective on Food Safety” will be presented by Michael Taylor, U.S. FDA, and Al Almanza, USDA.  

Attendance is expected to exceed 3,000 of the top industry, academic and government food safety professionals. This broad mix of attendees includes professionals in quality control, processing operations, regulatory inspections, food safety consulting, risk assessment, research and development, microbiological research, plant management, technical services, and HACCP management. The meeting will also showcase more than 150 companies and organizations demonstrating the latest products and technologies in the Exhibit Hall.