FRSPH, FIFST, FCIEH MSOFHT, CEnvH, CSci. Sterling has been a food safety practitioner for 35 years. He is Chair of the Advisory Board of the Food Authenticity Network and is the Independent Scientific Advisor at Campden BRI and sits on its board.

Sterling is also co-founder of Kitchen Conversation, Managing Director of SQS Ltd, and is a Strategic Advisor at Dynamic Risk Indicator and the Shield Safety Group. He is on the audit governance board at Eurofins and is advisor to the food waste sharing app OLIO and City to Sea, the plastic reduction charity.

Sterling has experience working in the field of national and international food safety, governance, communication, sustainability, and regulation. His experience as a regulator, retailer, brand owner and manufacturer has given him a unique perspective of the food sector. Over the past year, Sterling sat on the COVID-19 action teams of the CIEH and IFST.

Sterling is a scientific and public health commentator with regular columns and a number of learned papers to his name. He acts as an expert witness and consultant and has written several papers on the impact of the pandemic on the food industry.

Food and Drink Federation’s Food and Drink Scientist of the year 2015/16. Society of Food Hygiene and Technology’s Dorothy Cullinane Award for the Most Significant Contribution to the Food Industry 2019. IFST Honorary Fellow for 2020. Elected Trustee Chartered Institute of Environmental Health 2021.

Frank is the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He is the principal advisor to the FDA Commissioner on food safety policies, including implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. His leadership role covers a broad spectrum, such as outbreak response, traceback investigations, product recall activities, and supply chain innovation.

Mr. Yiannas came to the FDA from leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company. He has long been recognized for his role in elevating food safety standards and building food safety management systems based on science and risk.

An accomplished attorney and national expert in food safety, William (Bill) Marler has become the most prominent foodborne illness lawyer in America and a major force in food policy in the U.S. and around the world. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, has represented thousands of individuals in claims against food companies whose contaminated products have caused life altering injury and even death.

Bill began litigating foodborne illness cases in 1993 when he represented Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor of the historic Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, in her landmark $15.6 million settlement with the company. The 2011 book ‘Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. coli Outbreak that Changed the Way Americans Eat’ by best-selling author Jeff Benedict, chronicles the Jack in the Box outbreak and the rise of Bill Marler as a food safety attorney.

Bill’s advocacy for a safer food supply includes petitioning the United States Department of Agriculture to better regulate pathogenic E. coli, working with non-profit food safety and foodborne illness victims’ organizations, and helping spur the passage of the 2010-2011 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. His work has led to invitations to address local, national, and international gatherings on food safety, including testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.
He gives frequent donations to industry groups for the promotion of improved food safety and has established numerous collegiate science scholarships across the nation.

In 2010 Bill was awarded the NSF Food Safety Leadership Award for Education and in 2008 earned the Outstanding Lawyer Award by the King County Bar Association. He also received the Public Justice Award from the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association in 2008.

Bill graduated from the Seattle University School of Law in 1987, and in 1998 was the Law School’s “Lawyer in Residence.” In 2011, he was given Seattle University’s Professional Achievement Award.

Carmel joined the Civil Service in 1999, beginning her career at what is now the Department for Work and Pensions where she worked in a variety of roles on a large site.

In 2006 she moved to State Veterinary Service (now Animal and Plant Health Agency), leading on contingency planning for animal notifiable disease. During her ten years at APHA she led the operational response to two outbreaks of Avian Influenza and supported the laboratory rationalisation programme. As Regional Operations Director, she worked closely with veterinary and technical colleagues on farm, as well as building strong links with external stakeholders like Red Tractor, British Egg Industry Council, and the National Farmers Union to build a broader understanding of the food chain.

After working on secondment for a Defra regulatory reform Programme, in 2016 she moved across to the Food Standards Agency as Head of Operational Delivery for the North of England, overseeing the delivery of Official Controls in abattoirs.

In 2018 Carmel launched the Operational Transformation Programme to reform meat regulation and has recently moved over to lead the Achieving Business Compliance Programme for the FSA.

Andy has over 30 years’ experience in food safety and quality, initially in manufacturing, and then in foodservice. He set up Wyvern Food Solutions, a food safety consultancy, about 9 years ago, and he now helps companies with their quality and safety management systems, auditing, specifications, food fraud/VACCP, and other activities. His clients range from global blue-chip manufacturers through to university spin-offs. He usually works with a number of clients at a time, and his work usually can take him anywhere in the world, with the majority being in Europe and the Middle East.

The pandemic led to increased adoption of technology to try to overcome some of the limitations caused by inability to travel and do physical visits. Andy’s work with his clients experienced this in several different ways. In addition, Andy is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and he ran a series of webinars last year for the IFST on the opportunities for technology in the food industry covering such topics as robotics and AI.

Andy has had an interest in the application of technology for some years and has an involvement in Primority Ltd, a food safety management software company.

James is the Head of Food Authenticity and a member of the Food Science Leads at Fera Science Ltd, a team of scientific experts in a range of fields relating to food quality and safety.

A Doctor of Philosophy focusing in Chemistry from The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, James has a background in analytical chemistry, authenticity determination, non-targeted analysis, and small molecule structure elucidation.

At Fera Science, James oversees the science of the authenticity and profiling team, which comprises experts in the fields of stable isotope analysis; high resolution mass spectrometry; high field nuclear magnetic resonance; and proteomics. Currently, his primary research interests are identification of biomarkers and where applicable, the subsequent development of rapid and/or portable tools for their detection.

Denis is well known throughout the food industry as an engaging, driven, and decisive executive leader with 40 years of FMCG industry experience; the first 10 years in scientific roles, the last 30 at management, leadership, executive chief officer, and president level. After early roles in Unilever, Arla Foods and InBev, Denis was until very recently, president and chief safety, quality, security, and environment officer for the $5bn global snack foods business Pladis Global. Denis also led the health and safety agenda for Pladis’ parent company, Yildiz Holdings, the $12bn frozen food, retail, engineering, mining, and personal care company.

Denis heads Culture Compass Ltd, which serves to help businesses change performance by understanding the links between policies, organisation, and performance through the critical element of culture and behaviour. Reducing defects, incidents, accidents and improving the quality, safety and integrity of products and working environments can be achieved and sustained with a positive focus. Denis is known in the food industry for his attitude of sharing best practice, working with customers, regulators, and competitors alike to better the industry. Denis has many areas of expertise that have been developed over a long career and now coaches chief executives and their teams in leadership and helps businesses deliver transformational operational performance improvements.

Denis has advised the UK Government on food supply chain continuity during the pandemic through BEIS and the IFST Covid-19 Experts Group and now sits on the Product Safety advisory group for BEIS. Denis has also recently trained the UK FSA's Food Crime and Food Incident Units in global food defence and delivers modules for degree and masters courses for the Universities of Coventry and Nottingham.