GFSI Hosts Annual Conference April 8-11 in Singapore

Paris — The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a Coalition of Action of The Consumer Goods Forum and one of the world’s largest networks on food safety, is holding its annual conference from April 8-11 in Singapore. It will bring together the worldwide food community, from industry leaders to technology experts and policymakers, to reaffirm their strength and continuous collective drive to reach the mission of “safe food for everybody.”

In an era marked by significant technological breakthroughs, this year’s GFSI Conference will bring critical actors in the food safety ecosystem together to share insights into how technology is helping to shape innovative solutions to long-standing food safety problems and discuss potential solutions to future challenges.

“Over the past 24 years, the GFSI Conference has become the ‘must-attend’ event of the global food safety calendar, and this year’s conference in Singapore is no exception,” Erica Sheward, director of GFSI at the CGF, said. “We are looking forward to welcoming all the leaders in global food safety to what I think is our best program yet. We will focus on the challenges and opportunities that technology can bring in helping to solve the food safety concerns facing us in an ever-evolving world and discuss emerging issues, including the strategies the food industry will need to deploy as the impacts of climate change threaten previous, tried-and-tested approaches to food safety management.”

Hosted in Singapore, internationally renowned for being a hub of innovation with a diverse culture, this year’s conference will cover four main themes:

• Innovation as a Keystone in Food Safety: Innovation represents our strongest ally in combating emerging food safety hazards. Highlighted at GFSI 2024, emerging technologies like AI are redefining the landscape for tracking, testing and assuring food safety. Through practical case studies and discussions led by global experts representing multiple disciplines in the field, the conference will delve into how these advancements have the potential to support existing systems to manage food safety risks but also to support the development of preventative strategies to tackle emerging risks before they become a global crisis.
  
• The Power of Global Alliances: As global food supply chains become ever more complex and disrupted, the unique power of GFSI is providing a forum for global collaboration on food safety by uniting all the essential actors in the food safety system, including regulators, policy makers, academics, the food industry and those developing and delivering cutting edge solutions to emerging food safety challenges.
  
• Sustainability: A Pillar of Food Safety: The critical intersection between food safety and food security grows ever closer. Attendees will hear firsthand from international experts about why the drive for sustainable approaches to food security must always have food safety outcomes at their core, and how those two important and interrelated outcomes can align.
  
• Navigating standards: The whole food sector must navigate standards and regulatory practices in the food safety space, including how these vary by region. Attendees will learn from a range of examples shared by their peers and others in the sector, particularly in Singapore, India and Australia.
  

Highlight sessions and speakers across the three-day program include:

• The Role of AI in Tackling Food Fraud with Dr. Yinqing MA, Director of Compliance Policy Staff, Office of Compliance, CFSAN, Food & Drug Administration, United States of America.
  
• Special Keynote Address: Dr. Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, Ministry of Transport, Republic of Singapore.
  
• Special Keynote Speech - What business are you in? Redefining Health Professionals: The Role of the Food Industry in Wellness, with Patrick Wall, Professor of Public Health, University College Dublin.
  
• Foodborne Pathogens as Adulterants: Is this the way to play the food safety game? with Julian M. Cox, Associate Dean (International - Emerging Markets), Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney).
  

Other examples of leadership, ingenuity and innovation speaking at the event include: The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, IFPA, Mars Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Pick n Pay, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Walmart China, World Health Organization and more.

To find out more about the conference and register, visit mygfsi.com/events/gfsi-conference/