Trust, Transparency and Technology Sets the Stage at the 2017 Global Food Safety Conference

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HOUSTON, March 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The 16th annual global food safety conference proved to be record-breaking on several dimensions. Nearly 1200 delegates from 54 countries trekked to Houston, TX to collaborate, resulting in record-breaking attendance to focus on the conference's theme, Leadership for Growth.

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The food industry held its own version of a 'G30' summit as governments from 30 countries converged before the conference to discuss vital food safety topics and continued pursuit of international harmonisation.

During the jam-packed conference programme, the attendees heard from some of the world's top CEOs from major food companies regarding how they are driving change in their respective company's food safety programmes and culture.

Trust and transparency were recurring themes, and the ones audience heard loud and clear, are integrally tied to food safety. And that certain challenges the industry is facing like visibility, listeria control, regulatory implementation such as FSMA, will not go away, and that is because food safety is not a static issue.

Competency and credibility - of auditors and the credence of their assessments - was a hot topic and conference presenters revealed the immense work that GFSI and the newly named CPO's - Certification Programme Owners - are doing to elevate and calibrate auditor performance to ensure consistency and confidence of the GFSI Programme.

The call-to-action for those who attended was resounding - we must partner to grow. Collaboration is the key to succeeding in this new era of a growing globalised supply chain, demand for more information, increased regulation and greater liability exposure than ever before.

Why such record-setting attendance? Conference goers would attest this was a record-shattering content on some of the most dynamic topics impacting food safety in decades. As the conference came to a close, attendees left with these keys: Collaborate to build trust and transparency, by leveraging technology and relationships. That collaboration occurs between trading companies, with public and private partnerships and with consumers to advance growth and ensure safe food for consumers everywhere.

About The Global Food Safety Initiative  

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) brings together key factors of the food industry to collaboratively drive continuous improvement in food safety management systems around the world. With a vision of safe food for consumers everywhere, food industry leaders created GFSI in 2000 to find collaborative solutions to collective concerns, notably to reduce food safety risks, audit duplication and costs while building trust throughout the supply chain. The GFSI community works on a volunteer basis and is composed of 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. GFSI is powered by The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global industry network working to support Better Lives Through Better Business. For more information, visit: http://www.mygfsi.com.

Press contact:
Lisa Prévert
[email protected]

SOURCE Global Food Safety Initiative