Industry leaders speak at food safety conference

Leaders from across the global fresh produce industry will headline the Australian Fresh Produce Safety Centre’s (FPSC) upcoming conference.

US-based Drew McDonald is one of the confirmed speakers for the day-long event, being held on 11 August at the University of Sydney and online.

McDonald is the senior vice president quality and food safety at Taylor Fresh Foods, one of the world’s leading producers of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. He is also chair of the Centre for Produce Safety Technical Committee.

McDonald will deliver the conference’s keynote address.

“Drew’s presentation presents a unique opportunity to hear from a leading food safety practitioner and learn how food safety is important at the farm level,” according to a release from FPSC. “His visit is being sponsored by the University of Sydney who are a leading institution for food safety research.”

The conference programme also includes a chief executive session titled ‘Food safety starts at the top – CEOs on food safety in fresh produce’. Speakers include Perfection Fresh’s Michael Simonetta, Fresh Select’s John Said, and Velisha Farms’ Catherine Velisha.

“We are pleased to host such an excellent selection of speakers at our upcoming conference,” said Andreas Klieber, chairman of FPSC.

“With recent events around the world, and specifically within Australia and New Zealand, disrupting fresh produce production and raising concern on fresh produce safety, it’s imperative that we promote discussions around best practice in food safety and the importance of having these practices implemented in all organisations from the top-down.”

The 2022 FPSC conference runs from 8:30am – 5.30pm.