3rd MoniQA International Symposium - Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management - 30 October – 1 November 2019, Rockville, MD, USA

Following the great successes of previous symposia in this series in Bari, Italy in 2017 https://bari2017.moniqa.org/ and Vienna, Austria in 2018 https://vienna2018.moniqa.org/, the MoniQA Association and USP (the United States Pharmacopeia) would like to invite you to the 3^rd International MoniQA Symposium on Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management scheduled on 30 October – 1 November 2019 in Rockville, MD, USA.

An exciting program with practical litigation cases, with strategies and methods for detecting and combating food fraud, are presented by renowned speakers from around the world. Join us in Rockville and meet the "Food Detectives" and get to know modern technologies that are looking for the "unknown" and learn about legal regulations and get practical advice for protecting your branded products, for correct food labeling, and ultimately to maintain consumer trust. The symposium program is currently being compiled, it will include speakers from Science and Innovation, from industry, public authorities, international organizations, law firms and food research institutions.

Visit the conference website at https://rockville2019.moniqa.org

In addition to the traditional main topics related to food fraud prevention and effective food allergen management, the 3^rd edition of this International Symposium will also focus on the Food Law, its implications for industry and food businesses in international trade, export and import liabilities, critical issues of food integrity and food safety related issues governed by national and international regulations and standards, impacts of international trade agreements. This symposium will address food authenticity, food fraud and the need for simple labeling as major drivers for both the food industry and companies involved in rapidly developing new analytical technologies, and putting available analytical tools in perspective of private standard requirements. While the food industry must adapt its programs addressing food safety and quality to meet the ever-changing regulatory and legal landscape, law firms specializing in food issues must also ensure their knowledge of these changes is up-to-date when defending the rights of consumers and/or food producers.

This workshop will bring together food industry experts, legal experts, regulators, academics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to discuss the latest information on the implications of regulations and other burning issues in the food space. Additionally, recent technological developments in food analysis, digital certification and brand protection will be presented.

We warmly invite you to attend this meeting in Rockville, which brings together international experts in the fields of food authenticity and food allergens, as well as various food industries, SMEs, research institutions, associations and regulatory bodies, all having a different stake in food safety. This special mix of scientific and practical input to the symposium will be a valuable opportunity to grow your knowledge base, learn from practical experiences, and exchange ideas with peers.

Draft program structure:

Wednesday, 30 October 2019

• Company workshops
• MoniQA Task Force on Food Authenticity (open meeting)
• MoniQA Task Force on Food Allergen Reference Materials (open meeting)
• MoniQA Supervisory Board Meeting (by invitation only)
• Evening Welcome Reception

Thursday, 31 October 2019, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm

• Main Conference Session I – Food information
  • Technical session on food integrity, food authenticity, food fraud, food fraud databases, food profiling, food analysis and latest analytical innovations, reference materials.
  • Requirements of public standards for allergen management and food fraud prevention.

• Main Conference Session II – Food law
  • Technical session on food safety and the law, litigations, trade agreements, liability, brand protection, consumer protection, export and different national laws, digital certification and blockchain.

• Conference Dinner (19:00-22:00)

Friday, 1 November 2019, 8:30 am - 3:00 pm

• Main Conference Session III – Managing allergens
  • Technical session on food allergens and labelling, food allergen management, gluten free, economic and food safety implications, analytical methods/challenges, reference materials.

• Main Conference Session IV – Allergen risk mitigation
  • Different regulations, introducing different risk assessment tools for food producers, food vendors, authorities, and clinicians.
  • Food allergen management in practice.
  • Challenges with hand held devices for risk management by consumers, liability implications, recalls.

• Summary and Farewell

We hope to see you in Rockville in October/November 2019!

Dr. Bert Popping
President, Germany

Dr. Richard Cantrill
Past-President, Canada

Dr. Linda Monaci
Vice President, Italy

Dr. Roland Poms
Secretary General/CEO, Austria