Speaker Faculty

Christopher Young came to the FBI in Chicago as an Intelligence Analyst in January 2018 after retiring from the 5th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, IL Army National Guard. He has worked with weapons of mass destruction and hazardous materials since 1999, during which time he provided subject matter expertise related to chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear materials before, during, and after potential WMD terrorist events and worked with a vast array of federal, state, and local agencies.

Dr Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed., is the Assistant Dean at NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY’S College of Professional Studies in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor of food regulatory policy, specializing in food safety, global economics of food and agriculture, Blockchain, and food authenticity. He additionally advises industry, NGOs, and government agencies, addressing food safety and authenticity issues in the U.S. and abroad. Detwiler recently received the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR FOOD PROTECTION (IAFP) Distinguished Service Award (Sponsored by Food Safety Magazine.) Over the past 25 years, Detwiler has consulted with the USDA in strengthening food safety policies, particularly in the areas of consumer education, product labeling, and their pathogen reduction program. In addition to serving in various educational and advisory capacities, his committee work includes appointments to two terms as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection for USDA, where his work improved standards and policies related to risk-based sampling. As the senior policy coordinator for a national food safety organization, he evaluated pertinent regulatory issues for the USDA and the FDA as a consumer advocate in their stakeholder advisory group. He later served two terms as a council member for the Conference for Food Protection, identifying and addressing emerging problems of food safety to influence model laws and regulations among all government agencies. Detwiler received his doctorate of law and policy from NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY with a research focus on state implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

Bart Ingredients supply a wide range of ingredients including herbs and spices from origins around the world. These products are widely considered to be at risk from adulteration and contamination. Bart Ingredient’s Food Defence Team focusses on the Integrity of Ingredients throughout the global supply chains. Gideon has worked in the UK and overseas in primary food production and technical management for 15 years, with experience of the challenges of emerging ingredients and new technologies.

Lolita R. Brumfield is an Investigator with the United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Office of Investigation, Enforcement, Audits, Compliance and Investigations Division (USDA/FSIS/OIEA/CID). She investigates violations of the food safety, food defense, and other consumer protection statutory requirements; controls unsafe or violative products through detentions, civil seizures, and voluntary recalls. Her position also plays a substantive role in outbreak investigation as well as a key role in FSIS' homeland security mission. She is a graduate of Alcorn State University, with a Degree in Agriculture Economics. She has been with USDA FSIS for 15 years.

After the graduation in Economics at Università Bocconi and a Master of Science in International Public Policy at UCL (University College London), Matteo joined The Monitor Group, a strategy consulting firm, supporting companies' business development in EMEA. He joined Barilla in 2008 and moved from Marketing to Innovation in 2012 to develop and launch CucinaBarilla, which he led as the CucinaBarilla Managing Director. In 2018 he was appointed Global Marketing Director at Barilla, leading of the most dynamic and vibrating product categories of the company with a global footprint. He is passionate about Food, business modelling, trends and innovation. He will be chairing the Food Innovate Summit for the second time and attending it for the third time.

Neil Marshall, Global Director Quality & Food Safety, for The Coca-Cola Company. Neil’s responsibilities include defining global strategy, policy, programs, requirements and initiatives for quality and food safety to ensure product integrity, whilst reducing risks across the supply chain. Neil joined the Coca-Cola system in June 1999 for Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd in the UK. Since then, he has held several Quality and Supply Chain technical lead roles within the UK and Europe before moving to a global position in Atlanta, USA in 2009. Neil has worked in over 80 countries and was the global technical company lead for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 South Africa World Cup and for the 2012 London Olympics. Neil also led the development of PAS 223: Food Safety for Food Packaging. Neil is a board member of GFSI and the President of SSAFE. Neil has a Master of Science degree from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.

Sanjay Gummalla is senior vice president, scientific affairs at the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI). His broad industry experience in food science, food safety, and nutrition are key to guiding science and policy advocacy, and effective scientific tools and resources for the food and beverage industry. He is at the forefront of coordinating Listeria monocytogenes and enteric virus prevention and control programs and policy efforts on behalf of the frozen food industry. Prior to joining AFFI, Sanjay was the vice president of product development at Zentis NA, a global fruit preparation manufacturer. His technical expertise extends to flavor development, food microbiology, and product development resulting from managing global food application projects at Givaudan Flavors and leading the global dairy flavor research and development portfolio at Cargill. Sanjay currently serves on key committees representing the industry, he is an advisor on the U.S. Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee for Processed Foods, a committee member on IAFP’s Journal of Food Protection, President of the Capital Area Food Protection Association, and chair of the International Food Science Certification Commission which administers IFT’s Certified Food Scientists program. On the food safety front, he is a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual instructor and served as adjunct assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, where he taught food microbiology. Early in his career, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) representing FDA’s foray in to nanotechnological applications for food safety. He holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Food Sciences from Utah State University.

Emily is the Manager of Food Safety at United Fresh Produce Association. In this role, she leads various initiatives to support the association’s scientific and policy objectives, including the development of technical resources and leadership in produce safety training efforts on topics such as Listeria and environmental monitoring, the Produce GAPs Harmonized Standard, FSMA implementation, and outbreak response. Prior to United Fresh, Emily earned her Ph.D. in Food Science from Cornell University as a USDA National Needs Fellow in Food Safety for a Global Economy, minoring in Nutrition and International Agriculture & Rural Development. During this time, Emily served as a visiting researcher at Embrapa, the Brazilian agricultural research organization. She also previously worked as a Quality Engineer for General Mills after earning her B.S., magna cum laude, in Food Science and Technology from Iowa State University. Emily is a member of the International Association for Food Production, she currently serves on the Technical Committee for the Center for Produce Safety, and she is the secretary for the Fruit & Vegetable Products Division of IFT.