Managing food safety and defense for large events such as international sporting competitions and political conventions provides challenges for organizers, vendors, suppliers and regulatory agencies that oversee them. Large events are seen as economic drivers to communities and local food businesses often wish to promote their wares to a wider audience. The high-profile nature of these events draw extra attention from spectators and the media and increase the chance of intentional contamination incidents. The vast number of food handlers are volunteers with no formal training which also increases complexity for food safety risk-reduction as individuals are not well versed in prerequisite programs and HACCP-based principles. The aim of this symposium is to expose attendees to the complexities surrounding sourcing, preparing and inspecting food handling during these events. Individuals who were instrumental in organizing and participating in large events will talk about risks, how they were managed and lessons learned from their experiences. Presenters will provide case studies of the Democratic National Convention and recent Olympic games as models.

Presentations