2014 European Symposium
May 7 – May 9 | Budapest, Hungary
IAFP’s European Symposium on Food Safety took place at the Novotel Budapest City and Budapest Congress Center from 7–9 May. In collaboration with the International Life Sciences Institute Europe and the Society for Applied Microbiology, with the technical cooperation of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, IAFP hosted over 330 delegates at this year’s symposium.
Lajos Bognár, from the Ministry of Rural Development, Hungary, provided the Welcome Speech, titled “Security and Safety of the Food Chain.” Donald Schaffner, Rutgers University and IAFP President, and Mária Szeitzné-Szabó, Directorate for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Hungary then gave Opening Session lectures titled, “Lessons Learned from Meta-analyses of Published Literature on Antimicrobial Hand Washes and Hand Sanitizers” and “Emerging Food Safety Risks in Europe,” respectively. Twenty-two symposia and eight technical sessions along with a Closing Plenary Session compiled the three-day program. More than 120 oral presentations and over 150 poster presentations were given in Budapest.
Several students competed in the developing scientists competition during the event. Sungyul Yoo from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea received the technical honors and Cristina Rodriguez from University of Liege, Liege, Belgium, and Renáta Kugler from Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary received the poster presentation honors.
For the first time, the IAFP Foundation awarded a Student Travel Scholarship to the European Symposium on Food Safety. This year’s deserving winner was Erika Georget. Erika studies at Leibniz University Hanover, and conducts her research at the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL), Quakenbrück, Germany.
Exhibitors and sponsors helped to support this year’s symposium through their financial contributions. Twenty-three companies shared their food safety equipment, products and services with attendees through displays in the Exhibit Hall. We appreciate each of these companies for the support they provided to the symposium.
Networking breaks, luncheons and receptions were held each day. In honor of the 10th anniversary of IAFP’s European Symposium on Food Safety, a Gala Cruise on the Danube River, taking in the beautiful sights of Budapest, was held Thursday evening.
Other groups to be recognized include the Organizing Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee. Marcel Zwietering served as chairperson for the Organizing Committee and Csilla Mohácsiné Farkas served as the chairperson of the Local Committee. We appreciate the work of the committee members, along with that of the symposia organizers and convenors. With everyone’s help and all working together, the European Symposium in Budapest was a grand success!