Ensuring the integrity of the world’s food supply.
The Belfast Summit on Global Food Integrity will bring together foodsecurity experts from all over the world, spanning academia, industry, agriculture, NGOs and regulators.
Over three days, they will grapple with the dilemma of how to feed a growing global population with integrity - amid issues such as pollution, climate change, Brexit, food fraud and food terrorism.
The Summit will be chaired by Queen’s University Belfast Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Elliott OBE, who conducted the UK government’s inquiry into the horsemeat scandal.
With a format different from a traditional university conference, the Summit will be interactive and outcomes-focused, so a wide range of opinion can feed into a White Paper of policy recommendations.
Head of Bioeconomy at the Research and Innovation Directorate-General of the European Commission, Dr John Bell will open the Summit, setting a high-level tone, which will be upheld by a number of experienced keynote speakers from organisations like the World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), World Bank and US Homeland Security.
Local, national and global industry in the field will be prominent at the Summit and are crucial to the event’s success. The Summit will also include high-profile scholars from leading universities and institutes, such as Wageningen (The Netherlands), Laval (Quebec) and INRA (France). And a number of EU working projects will hold their meetings while at the Belfast Waterfront, including the ‘Food Integrity’ and ‘China Safe’ projects.
So, what will the Summit focus on? Well, according to FAO, the global food chain is under continued threat from outbreaks of animal/plant pests and diseases, as well as foodsafety crises (sometimes occasioned by deliberate food fraud, sometimes accidental contamination).
The food-security challenge is also linked to broader publicpolicy matters such as climate change, pollution, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, as well as cultural, social, political and demographic changes.
All of these issues – and more – will be debated at the Summit, under the structure of four themes:
1. Deliberate contamination of food
2.The threat from pathogens to the food system
3. Human exposure to chemical cocktails present in foods
4. Delivering the nutritional needs for the 21st century global population
In summary, it will be a unique opportunity to network with the world’s leading professionals, thinkers and policy makers – right on our own doorstep here in Northern Ireland. More than any other factor, though, we want you to contribute to the global debate – how we feed the world, going forward, with integrity.
safefood Knowledge Network members also get to benefit from a special discounted registration rate so there’s no excuse not to attend and be part of 2018’s most important food safety summit.
Please view the Summit website http://www.asset2018.eu
Comments