2024 European Symposium
April 30 – May 2
IAFP’s European Symposium on Food Safety took place 30 April – 2 May 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland, with 382 registered delegates participating from 36 countries. IAFP was proud to be represented by Tim Jackson, President, and Manpreet Singh, Vice President, along with Association Past Presidents Stan Bailey and Gale Prince.
Tuesday’s Opening Session began with a welcome to delegates from Mariem Ellouze, Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland, and Chair of the Organizing Committee. IAFP President Tim Jackson, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CFSAN, Santa Cruz, California, officially opened the symposium and spoke about IAFP and its benefits. He then introduced IAFP Vice President Manpreet Singh, University of Georgia, Athens, who presented Leon Gorris, Food Safety Futures, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with the new IAFP Europe Food Safety Award, sponsored by Novolyze. This award recognizes an active IAFP Member from Europe for dedicated and exceptional contributions to the profession of food safety in Europe. Also recognized were two deserving recipients of the 2024 European Student Travel Scholarship: Xiaodie Li, KU Leuven University, Leuven, Belgium; and Fotios Lytras, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. This award is sponsored by the IAFP Foundation. Janitha Liyanage, a 2020 Travel Award recipient, and Joseph Wambui, a 2021 Student Travel Scholarship recipient, were also in attendance and recognized for their food safety efforts.
Presenting during the Opening Session were Michael Beer, Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Bern, Switzerland, speaking on “New Technologies in Food Safety: Heaven or Hell?”; Francesco Branca, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, talking about “Reducing the Burden of Foodborne Diseases: WHO Strategy and Action”; and Tim Jackson, discussing “From Outbreak to Prevention – Learning from Failures and Near Misses.”
Other speakers on Tuesday were Elien Alderweireldt, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Stephanie Bedhomme, CNRS, Montpellier, Occitanie, France; Mirjana Andjelkovic, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium; Breanna Duffy, New Harvest, Boston, Massachusetts; Mark Sturme, Wageningen Food Safety Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Hans Verhagen, Technical University Denmark/Ulerster University/FSN Consultancy, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Maeli Melotto, University of California – Davis, Davis, California; Adam Schikora, Julius Kuhn Institute, Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany; Shirley Micallef, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; Massimiliano Marvasi, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; Vittorio Fattori, FAO, Rome, Italy; Bernard Bottex, EFSA, Parma, Italy; and Nicola King, Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Christchurch, New Zealand.
A few of Wednesday’s speakers were Panagiotis Skandamis, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Charlotte Verbart, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Mǎdǎlina Lorena Medeleanu, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj, Romania; Patrick Smeets, KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Jeanne-Marie Membré, Oniris, INRAE, UMR SECALIM, Nantes, France; Matthias Fischer, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany; and John Holah, Kersia Group, Bury, UK.
Seventeen symposia, two roundtables, and eight technical sessions, along with the Closing Plenary Session, comprised the three-day program. Poster presentations given throughout the meeting totaled 175.
Speakers on Thursday included Cecile Vadier, Barry-Callebaut France, Louviers, France; Liesbeth Jacxsens, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Anett Winkler, Cargill, Inc., Unterschleißheim, Germany; Sophie Tongyu Wu, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK; John Boyce, Cultivate SA, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Clare Winkel, Integrity Compliance Solutions, Brisbane, Australia; Paola Lopez, CULTIVATE SA and Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica de Mexico, Cancun, Mexico; Clare Mills, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; Antonio Fernández Dumont, European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy; and Sophie Roussel, ANSES, Maisons-Alfort, France.
The Closing Session featured Ludovica Verzegnassi, Nestlé, Lausanne, Switzerland, speaking on “New Food Technologies: A Food Safety Management Perspective”; and Awilo Ochieng Pernet, Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Bern, Switzerland, presenting “Consumer Health Protection, Food Security and Nutrition, Food Production and Trade: Food Safety, the Invisible Thread.” Tim Jackson provided closing remarks after presenting awards to two of the many students who took part in the Student Competition. Christopher James, Campden BRI, Chipping Campden, UK, and Maryam Maktabdar, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, received top honors for their poster and technical presentations (respectively) during the conference.