2023 European Symposium
May 3 – May 5 | Adberdeen, Scotland
IAFP’s European Symposium on Food Safety took place 3–5 May 2023 in Aberdeen, Scotland, with 372 registered delegates participating from 35 countries worldwide. IAFP was proud to be represented by five Association Past Presidents including Gary Acuff, Lee-Ann Jaykus, Kali Kniel, Ruth Petran, and
Gale Prince.
Wednesday’s Opening Session began with a welcome to delegates from Luca Cocolin, University of Torino, Italy, and Chair of the Organizing Committee; and Mariem Ellouze, Nestlé Research Center, Switzerland, Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee. IAFP President Michelle Danyluk, University of Florida, Lake Alfred, Florida, spoke about IAFP and its benefits before officially opening the symposium and recognizing two deserving recipients of the 2023 European Student Travel Scholarship: Cristina Serra-Castelló, a student at the University of Wageningen, Netherlands, and Beatriz Nunes Silva, a student at the University of Minho, Portugal. This award is sponsored by the IAFP Foundation. Two Travel Award recipients and two Student Travel Scholarship recipients from 2021 and
2022 in attendance were also recognized for their food safety efforts, including Badroonesha Aumjaud, Ajay Mittal, David Mugabo, and Amin Olaimat.
Others presenting during the Opening Session were David Gally, Food Standards Scotland, Aberdeen, Scotland, who talked about “Current Challenges and Opportunities for Food Safety;” and Steve Wearne, Codex Alimentarius Commission, on secondment from the Food Standards Agency, UK, who spoke on “Food System Transformation: Policy Coherence through Standard Setting – The Role of Codex.”
Among other speakers on Wednesday were Marion Gottschald, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment Berlin, Germany; Adam Friedlander and Eric Stevens, both with the U.S. FDA, College Park, Maryland; Kristen Schill, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin; Paw Dalgaard, University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; Chris Michiels, KU
Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Caroline Smith DeWaal, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Washington, D.C.; Kang Zhou, FAO, Rome, Italy; and Peter Sousa Hoejskov, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
A few of Thursday’s speakers were Alberto Bombelli, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands; Olivia McAuliffe, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Fermoy, Cork, Ireland; Jan Willem Sanders, Unilever Foods Innovation
Centre, Wageningen, Netherlands; Carol Wallace, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK; Lone Jespersen, Cultivate Food Safety; Hauterive, Switzerland; and Shingai P. Nyarugwe, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Fourteen symposia, four roundtables, and nine technical sessions, along with the Closing Plenary Session, comprised the three-day program. Poster presentations given throughout the meeting totaled 164.
Those speaking on Friday were Francois Bourdichon, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Cremona, Italy; Preetha Biswas, Neogen Corporation, Lansing, Michigan; Suzanne Jordan, Campden BRI, Chipping Campden, UK; Padmini Ramachandran and Maria Hoffmann, both with the U.S. FDA – CFSAN, College Park, Maryland; Lisa Avery, The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland; and Ali Atoui, Nancy Laboratory for Hydrology – ANSES, France, Maisons-Alfort, France.
The Closing Session took place with Wayne Anderson, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, speaking on “Food Safety and Sustainable Food Systems;” and Michelle Danyluk talking about “Managing Microbiological Risks in Agricultural Waters.” Ruth Petran, Ruth Petran Consulting, LLC, Eagan, Minnesota, presented awards to two of many students who took part in the Student Competition. Veronika Bulochova, ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, Wales, and Minji Kim, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, received top honors for their poster and technical presentations (respectively) during the conference.
This year’s symposium was supported in part by our exhibitors and sponsors through their financial contributions. Thirteen companies shared their food safety equipment, products, and services with attendees through displays in the Exhibit Hall. IAFP acknowledges each of these companies for their support provided to the symposium.
Additional recognition was extended to the Organizing Committee, chaired by Luca Cocolin. IAFP extends its thanks and appreciation to these committee members, as well as to the symposium organizers, convenors, and presenters, all of whom provided much time and hard work into planning and organizing this year’s European Symposium in Aberdeen. The increasing attendance since the
years during the pandemic made it a highly successful meeting for those arriving from across Europe and around the world.
Photos from IAFP's European Symposium on Food Safety