IFST Western Branch Conference - Developing Food Safety Culture in Manufacturing Operations

Chair:

Ian Jaques, IFST Western Branch

Ian graduated form Reading University with a degree in Food Technology and has worked in the Food industry for over 40 years in a variety of roles spanning the Product Development and Technical areas. During his career Ian has worked for Nestlé UK, Northern Foods, Yeo Valley, ABF, Morrisons and latterly Tate and Lyle Sugars where he was European Quality Director. Ian now supports SME companies with Food Safety and Quality system advice.

Bertrand Emond - Membership Ambassador and Culture Excellence Lead, Campden BRI

Bertrand is an IFST Fellow and holds a Master of Food Science & Technology and a Master of Business Administration. For the last 35 years, Bertrand has been helping companies of all sizes from all parts of the agri-food chain to survive and grow.  He has taken part in a number of local, regional, national and international initiatives aiming to support businesses with respect to Quality, Food Safety, Sustainability and Innovation. He is passionate about supporting the industry in the areas of skills, knowledge, training, learning and development, competency, and achieving culture excellence through behaviour change.  He won the 2020 BRCGS CEO Europe Award recognising his commitment and contribution to food safety and the Heinz Award for Excellence for Leadership in Collaborative CPD for the Industry. Bertrand will be discussing Food Safety Culture: Driving and sustaining positive behaviours. 

Paula Levitt - Quality Assurance Manager, Lionel Hitchens Flavour Ingredients

Paula graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a degree in food technology and has 25 years of experience in the food industry. Initially started in product development roles then moved into Technical roles, gaining valuable experience working for companies including Givaudan, Jordans, IFF & Rich Products. Paula joined Lionel Hitchen Limited in 2016 and is the Quality Assurance Manager focussing on food safety and food safety culture. Paula will be discussing Food Safety Culture: Development in practice. 

Angela O’Donovan - Head of Programmes, BRCGS

Angela joined BRCGS in January 2021. She is responsible for ensuring all 10 BRCGS Global Standards meet the expectations of their specifiers and customers globally, that the Standards are aligned to the needs of the market and are consistent in product design and their approach to brand protection. Angela has over 30 years’ experience in safety, quality, legality, ethical and sustainability, in both food and non-food. She has worked in high-risk manufacturing, was Head of QA for 2 UK retailers (Woolworths & Mothercare), European Director of QA for Wessanen a Dutch Agent & Broker and prior to joining BRCGS was Director of Technical Services for Bidfood a UK foodservice wholesaler where she was responsible for Quality, Safety and Sustainable policies for 16,000 skus and she maintained their BRCGS Storage and Distribution certification, amongst other things. Angela will be discussing Food Safety Culture: Insights from BRCGS. 

Kate Adams - South West, West Midlands, Wales Regional Coordinator, UK Food Certification

Kate supports local food businesses and key stakeholders on the delivery of food assurance, she also runs her own consultancy business Forest of Dean Food Safety Ltd, providing technical consultancy and auditing services.  Kate has over 20 years food industry experience, encompassing a range of technical, quality, and technical account management roles with leading national and international food businesses across food production, auditing and certification. Kate has a BSc (Hons) in Food Safety & Quality Management and is also a qualified Lead Auditor, auditing clients against the BRCGS standard.  Kate will be discussing Food Safety Culture: Best practice in the eyes of an auditor.