The International Egg Commission (IEC) has joined the The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) . They participated in their global conference for the first time, which was held in London, UK from 16th -18th February.
The GFSI, managed by the Consumer Goods Forum, brings together some 600 food safety specialists from over 40 countries around the world and serves as a forum to exchange knowledge and best food safety practices. Presenters and participants represented a broad cross section of the food industry and included organizations such as Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Tesco, the International Standards Organization (ISO), the World Health Organization (WHO), among many others.
With so many of the egg industry’s key stakeholders present (retailers, food service, health agencies, etc.), participating in the GFSI conference is of key strategic value for the IEC. As this was the first GFSI conference attended by IEC, there was significant interest as to who the IEC represents and what steps the egg industry is taking to ensure a safe product as the egg moves from farm to fork.
This year’s conference was titled ‘Creating a Global Food Safety Culture’ and focused on topics ranging from Modernization of Food Safety Regulations to Bringing Value to Your Business by Integrating Food Safety. In past years the conference has focused largely on technical activities and specific tasks that must be carried out in order to raise the level of food safety worldwide. This year, although many technical issues were addressed, the focus was on creating a holistic food safety culture within your organization, in order to truly take your organisation’s food safety commitment to the next level.
The next GFSI Global Food Safety Conference will take place in February 2012 in Orlando, Florida, and will be preceded by several regional events over the next year.