BERLIN, 1st March 2016 – This week, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is bringing together 1,000 leading food safety specialists in Berlin for the 15th annual Global Food Safety Conference (GFSC). Gathered at the Intercontinental Hotel from Monday 29th February to Thursday 3rd March, food safety and industry experts from over 60 countries are working towards one goal: to make a change in the world and advance food safety globally. The conference addresses retail, manufacturing and food service representatives as well as international organisations, governments, academia, and service providers to the global food industry.

This year’s conference will span hot topics including Big Data, crisis management, the future of food safety, and will focus on the continuous efforts to harmonise trade standards worldwide. The GFSC helps the industry tackling future challenges and is providing a platform to discuss the most pressing issues. “The task has grown more complex – reducing food safety risks and managing costs in the supply chain, while developing capacity building efforts and facilitating knowledge exchange and networking,” says Mike Robach, newly appointed chairman of the GFSI board and Vice President of Corporate Food Safety at Cargill Inc., USA.

Speakers at the conference include FDA representatives, Berlin’s Senator for justice and consumer protection Thomas Heilmann, Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel from the federal institute of risk assessment as well as experts from international organisations such as Nestlé, Danone, Metro Group, and Cargill. 

GFSI is also releasing a newly revised version of its landmark Guidance Document (v7), the first part of which is being published in parallel to the conference. The document defines what food safety management is and underpins GFSI’s benchmarking process, which harmonises the requirements of food safety management schemes and is regularly revised to reflect best-practice and evolving needs in the industry. Each scope of the food supply chain will now have a tailored document dedicated to it. As such, these now compose the “GFSI Benchmarking Requirements”.

GFSI is also introducing the first Technical Working Group (TWG) on food safety culture in the industry to address a critical aspect of food safety: culture and behaviour. The Technical Working Group will be leading the way to a common understanding of food safety culture by developing guidance and implementation tools for specific dimensions of food safety culture. This is the first time a global industry organisation forms a working group with this mandate, and GFSI is proud to be a forerunner on this crucial subject.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY INITIATIVE

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is an industry-driven initiative providing thought leadership and guidance on food safety management systems necessary for safety along the supply chain. This work is accomplished through collaboration between the world’s leading food safety experts from retail, manufacturing and food service companies, as well as international organisations, governments, academia and service providers to the global food industry. They meet together at technical working group and stakeholder meetings, conferences and regional events to share knowledge and promote a harmonised approach to managing food safety across the industry. GFSI is facilitated by the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global, parity-based industry network, driven by its members. www.mygfsi.com