In an unprecedented step to assist food manufacturers, and their suppliers in identifying and implementing best sanitation design practices, eight leading food industry organizations are jointly sponsoring an industry sanitation workshop. Drawing upon the combined expertise of leading food safety and sanitation experts, the workshop will provide attendees with practical, real world solutions to take back to their companies. The Equipment & Plant Design Workshop for Allergen/Pathogen Control is being held February 9 & 10, 2010 in Chicago.

"It is critically important for the industry to insure consumer confidence in our products," said American Bakers Association President and CEO Robb MacKie. "With Congress and FDA pursuing legislative and regulatory fixes to the nation's food safety regime, it is imperative for the food industry to proactively develop strategies or face onerous governmental solutions."

"Food safety is not a competitive advantage issue," said AIB International President Jim Munyon. "A single food safety incident taints whole industry segments regardless of an individual company's exposure."

"Sanitation and sanitary design of equipment is the frontline of food safety," said American Society of Baking Executive Director and BEMA President Kerwin Brown. "Working collaboratively, food companies and their equipment suppliers can improve on current best practices to significantly reduce the potential for food safety incidents."

Joining ABA, AIB, ASB and BEMA in sponsoring the inaugural workshop are the Biscuit & Cracker Manufacturers Association, Food Processor Suppliers Association, National Pasta Association, and the Snack Food Association.

Registration will be limited to the first 72 attendees to allow for a more interactive dialogue among participants and session leaders. If the response is strong, additional workshops will be considered.

Session leaders include leading sanitation and food safety experts from the Bama Companies, Cadbury, Campbell’s, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Land O’Lakes, the Quaker Oats and Frito Lay divisions of PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Sara Lee. They will be sharing their vast knowledge on key issues such as Introduction to HACCP based Controls for Pathogens and Allergens, Sanitary Equipment and Facility Design in Construction, Risk Based Equipment and Facility Design, and Cleaning Procedures and Validation.

The workshop sessions are targeted for sanitation engineers and design engineers for food manufacturers and their supplier partners. Interested participants can register online at secure.aibonline.org/php/ecomm-catalog.php?catalogNbr=06-8010&site or find more information on each of the sponsoring organizations' websites.