The 2014 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference organized by the Partnership for Food Safety Education takes place in Arlington, VA, this week, but anyone unable to make the sessions in person can tune in to watch some of them live online. On Thursday, Dec. 4, you can visit www.communitek.tv/CFSEC-1 for the following conference sessions: Opening Plenary, Thursday, Dec. 4, from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. EST: CDC’s Winnable Battles Speaker: Patricia M. Griffin, Chief of Enteric Diseases Epidemiology, CDC CDC’s Winnable Battles are public health priorities with large-scale impact on health and with known, effective strategies to address them. One of these battles is food safety. With clear priorities and targets and by working with partners, CDC can make significant progress in reducing the burden of foodborne diseases. Supporting Consumers – Facilitating Behavior That Reduces Risky Behaviors Speaker: Lynn Frewer, Professor of Food and Society, Newcastle University, UK This presentation will focus on understanding and measuring societal and individual responses to risks and benefits associated with food. Thursday, Dec. 4, from 3:15 – 4:30 p.m. EST: Champions for Consumers: Educators in Action In this salute to leaders who connect with consumers on food safety and health, we explore this decentralized and diverse education effort and share ideas for a future of greater levels of evaluation and effectiveness in consumer food safety education. Presenters: Mary Pat Raimondi, VP of Strategic Policy & Partnerships, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Hilary Shallo Thesmar, VP of Food Safety Programs, Food Marketing Institute; Steve Larsen, Director of Pork Safety, National Pork Board; Shelley Feist, Executive Director, Partnership for Food Safety Education, and Dana Dziadul, author, “Food Safety Superstar” Panelists: Stan Hazan, Senior Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, NSF International (moderator); Shelley Feist, Executive Director, Partnership for Food Safety Education; Maria Olmeda Malagon, Director of Food Safety Education, FSIS, USDA; Marjorie Davidson, Consumer Educator, CFSAN, FDA, and Christine Prue, Associate Director for Behavioral Science, CDC On Friday, Dec. 5, you can visit www.communitek.tv/CFSEC-2 for the following sessions: Friday, Dec. 5, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. EST: Meaningful Messengers Speakers: Dana Pitts, Associate Director of Communications, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC, and Charlie Arnot, Chief Executive Officer, The Center for Food Integrity When food and food safety are in the news, whom do consumers want to hear from? What scientific and technical information gets through the clutter? This session will provide data and advice on how health and food safety educators can be most effective in engaging consumers with preventive health information. Friday, Dec. 5, from 1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. EST: Call to Action: Working Together to Prevent Foodborne Illness Speakers: Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for foods, FDA, and Brian Ronholm, Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) share primary responsibility for overseeing the safety of the U.S. food supply. The agencies routinely collaborate to ensure the safety of foods along the farm-to-table continuum. In this session, attendees will hear from USDA FSIS and FDA leadership about how they are working together — and with others — to meet the food safety goals of Healthy People 2020.
