Personal Injury Law

Food Safety Conference at Seattle University Draws Experts from the US and Abroad

By Bill Marler, Esq.

Seattle University School of Law hosts an in-depth conference titled “Who’s Minding the Store: The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved” on April 11th and 12th, 2008. Participants include international, national and local representatives of government, the food industry, consumer organizations, scientists, and the media.

Recent years have seen a plethora of food warnings and recalls, raising new questions about the quality and integrity of our existing system for assuring food safety. Seattle was the epicenter of the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak that sickened 600 and killed four 15 years ago. In addition to explaining how the present system works, this program is intended to discuss how changing consumer preferences are affecting the development and distribution of food, examine whether federal, state and industry oversight roles are changing, and discuss how the regulatory and judicial processes can be most efficiently balanced.

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire will present the keynote address. Featured speakers include Dr. Richard Raymond, Under Secretary for Food Safety, United States Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Patricia Griffin, Chief; Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

In addition, the conference brings together international experts, including Jorgen Schlundt of the World Health Organization, Qiu Yueming of the China National Institute of Standardization, Deon Mahoney of Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Chris Griffith of University of Cardiff Wales, and Dr. Canice Nolan, of the EU.

For a detailed agenda and registration, visit:
http://www.law.seattleu.edu/cle/archive/2008/foodsafety.

Full post as published by Marler Blog on April 07, 2008 (boomark / email).