The Fresh Produce Safety Conference, Innovation in fresh food safety, held at the University of Sydney on 10 August once again proved the value to industry of this annual event. Feedback surveys from participants pointed to the excellent networking opportunities as well as the strong relevance of the presentations to their businesses.

With over 130 participants from a wide range of Australian and New Zealand companies and organisations, there was an excellent buzz throughout the day, with all delegates acknowledging the holistic approach that came from the diversity of the presentations.

In his closing remarks at the conference, FPSC Chair, Michael Worthington said, ‘Food safety is very much a shared responsibility involving the entire supply chain. This conference examined that notion from various angles, and demonstrated how a whole-of-chain approach with a high level of collaboration between commercial companies, industry organisations, researchers, authorities and academia can deliver outcomes that should lead to safer fresh produce. Fostering such collaboration is a key objective of the FPSC and we need food safety to become an integral, entrenched part of every company’s business culture, just like occupational health and safety has become.’

Conference sponsors

The FPSC thanks its conference partners: Department of Industry and FreshTest Australia (FMA); and its conference sponsors: Houston’s Farm, Zespri, Aus-Qual, Symbio Laboratories, Perfection Fresh, NZGAP, Coles, Woolworths, Metcash, AgSafe, Heat and Control and DTS Food Laboratories.