With technology being the greatest agent of change in the 21st century, food producers are constantly challenged to re-shape the way they develop and deliver safe and nutritious food to the consumer.
This is why the upcoming IFST Spring Conference taking place on 7 April at King’s College – The Strand, London will focus on advances in technology, many of which are usually seen as outside of the normal scope of food science and technology.
Featuring leading experts and thought leaders, the Conference will explore how food production from farm to fork is changing through new science and technologies and, in turn, how we can expect roles in the sector to change.
Keynote speaker, David Crean, Vice President Corporate R&D of Mars Inc will talk about sequencing the supply chain. He explains about his topic: “In summary, the hypothesis is that raw materials, factories and products may have a specific microbiome and changes to that microbiome could indicate increased risk from pathogens adulteration and fraud. A number of companies have now joined up with IBM and are the founding members of Sequencing the Food Supply Chain Consortium. This talk will demonstrate the new tools, approaches and thinking that are now needed to secure a quality food chain.”
Another angle will be offered by Professor John C. Mathers, Director of Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University who says: “Personal health is now a big driver of innovation in food-related industries. The opportunity is to use the emerging science on how dietary choices interact with genes and other personal characteristics to improve health and wellbeing. This is leading to the integration of biology, digital technologies and big data handling systems as the bases for new companies, products and services.”
Other speakers include:
- Ian Noble, Senior R&D Director, Mondelez
- Ian Campbell, Director of Health & Life Sciences, Innovate UK
- Dave Ross, Chief Executive, Agri-Epicentre
- Matt Rayment, Group Business Development Manager, MTC
- Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight, Kantar Worldpanel
- Chris Wells, Managing Director, Leatherhead Food Research
- Isabel Hoffman, CEO and Founder, Tellspec
- Roy Betts, Head of Microbiology, Campden BRI
- Geoff McBride, Futures Analyst and Horizon Scanning Leader, Science and Technology Facilities Council
Jon Poole, Chief Executive of IFST says: “I’m really looking forward to this year’s Spring Conference. We have such a wide range of topics and high profile speakers who have been invited to provide us with some really forward thinking insights that share a common theme. With huge advances in technologies, how do we see technical roles changing over the next 5-10 years? How do we prepare and develop people to be equipped and ready to take full advantage of these technologies? These questions lie at the heart of IFST’s purpose.”
For more information about IFST Spring Conference or to book your place, visit http://www.ifst.org/events/ifst-spring-conference-2017-your-future-role-food-embracing-advances-technology.