At the IAFP 2011 Annual Meeting, the food defense symposia showcased a combination of innovative tools and programs available for industry and regulatory agencies worldwide to evaluate their knowledge and understanding, as well as improve their readiness for a possible attack on our food system. With that foundation, gaining an understanding of the level of readiness in the international community will help us benchmark our own preparedness and establish continuous improvement programs to address food defense. With the passage of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requiring the development of science-based regulations to protect against the intentional adulteration of domestic and imported foods, and the continued implementation of the USDA FSIS food defense plans, additional regulatory requirements are on the horizon. The additional FSMA requirements for managing the safety of imported foods, can create a complex food defense landscape to navigate. Economic adulteration continues to play a role in our food defense thinking. This symposium will provide stakeholders an update of the regulatory perspective on food defense from the FDA and USDA, a review of data driven signal detection systems, consumer attitudes towards agroterrorism, and observational perspectives of the current state of preparedness of the industry world-wide, to help us map for the future.

Presentations