How has COVID-19 Changed the Food Industry and what Lessons are we Taking Forward?

Bart Ingredients supply a wide range of ingredients including herbs and spices from origins around the world. These products are widely considered to be at risk from adulteration and contamination. Bart Ingredient’s Food Defence Team focusses on the Integrity of Ingredients throughout the global supply chains. Gideon has worked in the UK and overseas in primary food production and technical management for 15 years, with experience of the challenges of emerging ingredients and new technologies.

As a part-owner and head of brand management and marketing for Sunnyland Farms, Staci Willson is responsible for creating opportunities in multiple markets by implementing brand strategies through community, corporate and outreach channels. She also oversees new product development for a changing, competitive market. With over 20 years in the food industry, Willson brings experience, passion, and creativity to Sunnyland Farms. Willson studied Behavioral Science at Trevecca University and is active in numerous professional, civic and community organizations past and present including Georgia Grown, the Albany Museum of Art, AMA Friends, Leadership Albany, Albany Chorale, Atlanta Choral Guild, Flint River Fresh, Inc. and Les Dames Escoffier.

Dr Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed., is the Assistant Dean at NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY’S College of Professional Studies in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor of food regulatory policy, specializing in food safety, global economics of food and agriculture, Blockchain, and food authenticity. He additionally advises industry, NGOs, and government agencies, addressing food safety and authenticity issues in the U.S. and abroad. Detwiler recently received the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR FOOD PROTECTION (IAFP) Distinguished Service Award (Sponsored by Food Safety Magazine.) Over the past 25 years, Detwiler has consulted with the USDA in strengthening food safety policies, particularly in the areas of consumer education, product labeling, and their pathogen reduction program. In addition to serving in various educational and advisory capacities, his committee work includes appointments to two terms as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection for USDA, where his work improved standards and policies related to risk-based sampling. As the senior policy coordinator for a national food safety organization, he evaluated pertinent regulatory issues for the USDA and the FDA as a consumer advocate in their stakeholder advisory group. He later served two terms as a council member for the Conference for Food Protection, identifying and addressing emerging problems of food safety to influence model laws and regulations among all government agencies. Detwiler received his doctorate of law and policy from NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY with a research focus on state implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.