Source:  NCDA&CS, 7/21/10

More than 200 farmers, food manufacturers and retailers, and government scientists will gather Tuesday, Aug. 10, at the State Fairgrounds to learn more about food safety.

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler’s sixth annual Food Safety Forum will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Expo Center.

Keynote speakers will be Dr. Jim Gorny, senior food safety advisor at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Dan Engeljohn, a food protection administrator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Their respective topics will be produce safety, food safety and animal production, and investigations of foodborne disease outbreaks.

In addition, a panel of experts from state government and industry will discuss integrated food systems in North Carolina. And Dr. Ben Chapman of N.C. State University will talk about effective food safety messages. U.S. Reps. Howard Coble and Brad Miller also are scheduled to speak.

Troxler will close out the forum with a speech about food safety in North Carolina.
The agenda is available online at www.ncagr.gov/ncfoodsafetyforum.

Admission to the forum is free and lunch will be provided, but registration is required. To register, visit www.ncagr.gov/ncfoodsafetyforum or contact Christina Waggett at (919) 733-7125, ext. 255. Registration deadline is Aug. 1.

The forum is sponsored in part by the N.C. Rural Center’s Agricultural Advancement Consortium.