Food Safety Consortium Conference
Crystal Gateway Marriott

The Food Safety Consortium will take place October 19-21, 2025, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington VA directly across the Potomac River from  Washington, DC. The Program starts with several pre-conference workshops and training which leads into two full days of high-level panel discussions and educational presentations.

Organized by Food Safety Tech and the American Frozen Foods Institute (AFFI) the Food Safety Consortium Conference has been an educational and networking event since 2012 for Food Protection that has food safety, food integrity and food defense as the foundation of the educational content of the program.

Use the interactive Agenda below. Click on the session title and see a detailed description of the session along with the speakers and panelists.

Make it Conference to Remember! Bring the Family, enjoy the sights of our nation's capital and prepared to be wowed by the learning opportunities.

Agenda
Sunday, October 19
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
9:00 AM
9:00 AM
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
This pre-conference workshop is included with your registration.
Monday, October 20
7:00 AM - 6:00 PM
7:00 AM - 6:00 PM
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
Conference leaders set the stage for two impactful days, outlining key sessions, themes, and the latest developments in food safety.
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
Coffee and Refreshments are offered in the Exhibits
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Lunch is offered and then enjoy your time networking and meeting with Exhibitors
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Coffee and Refreshments are offered in the Exhibits
4:50 PM - 5:10 PM
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Beer, Wine and Refreshments are offered in the Exhibits
Tuesday, October 21
7:00 AM - 2:00 PM
7:00 AM - 2:00 PM
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
2:45 PM - 3:00 PM
2:45 PM - 3:00 PM
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
5:00 PM
5:00 PM
Sponsors
Platinum Sponsor
Speakers
Author and Former CEO of Blue Bell Creameries
Managing Partner
Marler Clark
Department Head Agricultural & Human Sciences
North Carolina State University
Director of Food Policy
Consumer Reports
Founder & CEO
Attorney/Director
Dooley Gembala McLaughlin Pecora Co.
Senior Vice President Quality Assurance
Vitaquest International LLC
Senior Consultant
Kestrel Tellevate LLC
VP Consulting
Intertek Alchemy
Interim Assistant Director, NC Agricultural Research Service (NCARS) Associate Professor & University Faculty Scholar
North Carolina State University
Director, Food Safety Services
Registrar Corp
Atomic Spectroscopy Specialist
Agilent Technologies
CEO
Karasu Consulting LLC
VP Food Safety and Quality Assurance
Valley Fine Foods
CEO
Starfish
Director, Communication
The Acheson Group
CRO
Provision Analytics
Regulatory Affairs and Public Health Expert
Director of Business Development
Conference Director & Publisher
Food Safety Consortium & Food SafetyTech
Executive Vice President
American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI)
Sr. Vice President Scientific Affairs
American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI)
Sr. Manager, Global Food Defense
PepsiCo R&D
Partner and Senior Consultant
KTL
Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs
The Hershey Company
Principal
Gendel Food Safety LLC
Co-Founder
Catalyst, LLC
Vice President, Digital Solutions, Marketing
Neogen Analytics
Senior Director, Food Safety and Quality
B&G Foods, Inc.
Principal Consultant
New Era Partners
Technical Development Director – Certification and Tailored Solutions
SGS North America
Founder
Food Safety Strategy
CEO
Abound Food Care
Senior Accreditation Officer
A2LA
EVP, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
The Acheson Group (TAG)
President
Neumann Advisory Services, LLC
Technical Services
Mérieux NutriSciences
North American Representative
FSSC
Chief Science Officer and Senior Vice President, Food and Product Safety Programs
FMI - The Food Industry Association
Vice President, Crisis & Risk Management
RQA
President
ASI

No records found.

Exhibitors
Smart Food Safe provides cutting-edge software solutions that enable businesses to effectively manage all aspects of Quality, Food Safety, Regulatory, and Traceability.
A global leader in food safety consulting, TAG experts provide onsite or remote assistance to help companies deploy best practices to mitigate risks, improve operational efficiencies, and protect your brand.
SGS
We are SGS – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for sustainability, quality and integrity.
Allera is the most user-friendly digital operating system for food safety and quality team to go digital, automate supplier management, unlock data, and streamline document control.
Neogen Analytics tracks and unifies the workflow and data generated within your environmental monitoring, product testing, and sanitation verification to improve quality and decrease risk while streamlining operations.

Smart Food Safe

Smart Food Safe provides cutting-edge software solutions that enable businesses to effectively manage all aspects of Quality, Food Safety, Regulatory, and Traceability.

The Acheson Group (TAG)

A global leader in food safety consulting, TAG experts provide onsite or remote assistance to help companies deploy best practices to mitigate risks, improve operational efficiencies, and protect your brand.

SGS

We are SGS – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for sustainability, quality and integrity.

Allera Tech

Allera is the most user-friendly digital operating system for food safety and quality team to go digital, automate supplier management, unlock data, and streamline document control.

Neogen Analytics

Neogen Analytics tracks and unifies the workflow and data generated within your environmental monitoring, product testing, and sanitation verification to improve quality and decrease risk while streamlining operations.

No records found.

Registration: Team Discounts & Payment Methods
Registration: Team Discounts & Payment Methods

Payment Method: ACH, Check, Credit Card or PayPal.

  1. PayPal is our credit card processor.
  2. You can pay with your credit card and you do not need a PayPal account.
  3. The merchant name on your credit card statement will read "Food Safety" or "FS Consortium" depending on your bank.
  4. We can Invoice you and then you can pay via ACH or check.
  5. Contact us if you have any questions

Team Discounts:

We are Offering On-Site Individual registrations as well as discounts for teams of 3 or more participants from the same company.  We are also offering a number of Pre-Conference Trainings and Workshops (Sunday) for an additional fee, that you will be able to add to your registration.

  1. When you register 3 or more participants from your company, you will receive a 50% discount per registration AFTER the 3rd REGISTRATION.
  2. If you register 3+ people at the same time, the system will apply the discount to the fourth and any additional registrants.
  3. If you are adding team members after registering, please contact us.
  4. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance registering your team.
FAQs
FAQs

Can I Cancel my Registration:

Cancellations minus a 20% cancellation fee are available until October 7. There will be NO refunds on Cancellations received after October 7. 

We will gladly substitute your registration to another colleague.

Do you have a room block at the hotel?

Attendees to the Food Safety Consortium Conference are offered a special group rate . You can also find the Discounted Hotel Block Reservation link at the top of the conference homepage at www.FoodSafetyConsortium.org.

Please note, in order to produce and host the conference at the hotel, the Food Safety Tech and AFFI have to financially guarantee the room block. We greatly appreciate it if you reserve your hotel room through the above link. 

Please do not use third party travel apps like Kayak, Hotel (dot com) or Marriott points to reserve your room. Those rooms are not considered part of the guaranteed Consortium room block. It takes a village to share food safety knowledge and you are doing your part presenting but also by reserving your hotel room through the room block. Thanks for your understanding.

Hotel & Travel Information
Hotel & Travel Information

Transportation information

The Crystal Gateway Marriott is only one mile from Reagan National Airport (DCA), two miles to Washington, DC and directly connected to the Crystal City Metro station. Ideally located in Arlington, VA, the hotel is steps to the exciting new National Landing development and Pentagon City; as well as a quick and convenient Metro ride to downtown Washington D.C. and Old Town Alexandria.

The hotel provides a complimentary Airport Shuttle, that runs daily between 5:00 AM to Midnight, every 30 minutes. You can schedule it by calling the hotel. 

You can also take a metro ride from the Airport by following the signs to the National Airport Metro Station. You will need to purchase a fare care from one of the machines at the station. The fare should be ~ $2.

You can take the Yellow Line (towards Mount Vernon Square) or the Blue Line (towards Largo). Depending on the time you arrive at the airport, trains will run between 5 to 15 minutes.

The hotel is the next stop, CRYSTAL CITY Metro Station. Exit the station via the S. Clark & 18 Street exit, Hotel is a 5 minute walk from the hotel across the metro station

A typical UBER ride to the hotel from the Airport will cost you between $10 - $45 depending on the time you arrive. Be aware that rush hour in the DC area runs between 6:30 am – 9:30 am and 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm.

You can also board a TAXI from the taxi stand at the airport. Fare should run you about $15.

You can also take Amtrak/ACELA trains to Union Station in DC and take the Metro RED Line (toward Shady Grove). Change trains to the YELLOW Line (toward Huntington) and get off at the Crystal City Station. Exit the station via the S. Clark & 18 Street exit, Hotel is a 5 minute walk from the hotel across the metro station.

HOTEL ROOMS

Attendees to the Food Safety Consortium Conference are offered a special group rate . You can also find the Discounted Hotel Block Reservation link at the top of the conference homepage at www.FoodSafetyConsortium.org.

Please note, in order to produce and host the conference at the hotel, the Food Safety Tech and AFFI have to financially guarantee the room block. We greatly appreciate it if you reserve your hotel room through the above link. 

Please do not use third party travel apps like Kayak, Hotel (dot com) or Marriott points to reserve your room. Those rooms are not considered part of the guaranteed Consortium room block. It takes a village to share food safety knowledge and you are doing your part presenting but also by reserving your hotel room through the room block. Thanks for your understanding.

If you need help making hotel arrangements, or to extend your stay, for the Food Safety Consortium, contact us, we're here to help!


MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRAVEL TO THE NATION'S CAPITAL

DC has lots to offer! Here are a couple of things for you to explore:

If you would like to visit the National Air & Space Museum, make sure to make reservations in advance. Entrance is free but timed-tickets are needed to be able to enter the museum.

You can make reservation via this link

To visit the National Museum of African American History, you will need to make ticket reservations in advance. There are limited tickets and they tend to be gone pretty fast. Make sure to make reservations at least a month in advance via this link

To visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum, you can reserve timed tickets via this link

Floor Plan
Floor Plan

Floor Plan for Sessions and Lunch

Exhibit Floor Plan
Exhibit Floor Plan

Photos