IFST Autumn Conference 2026 (AC26): Delivering Food Strategy Outcomes

Keynote Speaker: Professor Ian Young - Chief Scientific Advisor, Food Standards Agency

Professor Ian Young is Chief Scientific Advisor to the Food Standards Agency and  Professor of  Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was also Director of the Centre for Public Health from 2008-2014, and Consultant Chemical Pathologist at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. He was previously Chief Scientific Advisor to the Northern Ireland Department of Health, and Chair of the UK Government Scientific Advisory Committee for Nutrition. His main clinical and research interests are in nutrition and metabolism, particularly in relation to cardiovascular disease prevention. He is author of over 500 published research papers, past-President of the UK Association for Laboratory Medicine, and previous Chair of the Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory Medicine (JCTLM) and the Scientific Division of the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). He currently also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine.

Chair: Alec Kyriakides - Independent Food Safety Consultant  

Alec Kyriakides is a food safety consultant with over 35 years experience in the industry. In his 28 years with the retailer Sainsbury’s, Alec managed safety, quality, supplier performance, technical training, serious incidents, customer complaints, analytical assurance and the in-house accredited laboratory. Prior to Sainsbury’s, he worked in food manufacturing including the dairy and brewing industries. He is the co-author of books on the practical control of food borne pathogens including Salmonella, Listeria, C. botulinum, Campylobacter and E. coli. Alec has sat on a number of influential industry and government committees and is currently Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food, a Non-Executive Board Director of Campden BRI, Chair of the FSA Root Cause Analysis Steering Committee, Chair of the Safe to Trade Technical Standards Committee, Chair of the GFSI Certification Programme Owners Forum and Visiting Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. He is a former Trustee of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and former Chair of the BRCGS International Advisory Board.

Lizzy McHugh - Impact and Partnerships Manager, Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service, University of Leeds

Lizzy McHugh is the Impact and Partnerships Manager at the Healthy and Sustainable Data Service, where she is working to build strategic partnerships and accelerate the impact of data and research. With a background in product development and food policy, before joining HASP Lizzy worked at IGD, where she collaborated across the food industry, academia, and government to drive progress on healthy and sustainable diets. Her work focused on convening stakeholders and translating research into actionable insight to help shape initiatives that supported better food systems. Lizzy brings experience in partnership development, driving impact, and cross-sector collaboration, with a passion for creating meaningful change through evidence-based approaches.

Alice Harlock - Director of Technical and Member Services, OPRL 

Alice has worked for OPRL since 2014 and heads up the Member Support team, providing support on labelling of packaging and determining its recyclability. Alice started her career at HDRA as part of the Sustainable Waste Team. She moved to WRAP in 2005 to work on consumer communications through the Home Composting Programme, Recycle Now and Recycle for London campaigns before moving into the world of packaging. 

Zoe Plant - New Product Development Manager, Food Works SW 

Zoe is an experienced NPD Manager with a proven ability of delivering products from concept to launch in areas such as party food, desserts, soups, sauces, ready meals, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), dairy and plant based, to B2B and D2C. With a demonstrated history of working in the food production industry, strengths include NPD/EPD, process development and scaling up production. Zoe has a Bachelor of Science (BSc) focused in Food and Nutrition from London South Bank University and demonstrated her skills when she was a judge for the Great Taste Awards in 2024. Zoe brings creativity, technical expertise and a passion for innovation to every project she leads. 

Dr Ulrike Ehgartner - Social Scientist, University of York

Ulrike Ehgartner is a social scientist based at the University of York and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI). Her research specialises in the social dimensions of food systems, with a focus on how sustainable food futures are shaped across multiple sites, including locally embedded initiatives, policy, governance, and industry actors. Since 2021, she has worked on the FixOurFood programme (UKRI Transforming UK Food Systems), collaborating with regional food and farming stakeholders to examine how local food initiatives, such as urban agriculture and collaborative producer networks, create spaces for experimentation, learning, and the development of more sustainable ways of producing and consuming food. With a focus on the social, cultural, and governance dimensions of food system transformation, her research provides grounded insights into how place-based initiatives contribute to more connected, resilient, and sustainable food cultures.

Professor Greta Defeyter OBE - Dean of Social Mobility Policy Engagement, Northumbria University

Greta is the Dean of Social Mobility and Policy Engagement, Professor of Developmental Psychology, and the Director of the ‘Healthy Living’ Lab at Northumbria University. She has published numerous scientific and policy papers on children and young people’s wellbeing, food insecurity, school breakfast clubs, affordable food clubs, the Holiday Activities and Food programme, school meals, and has led numerous co-design projects with the UK Government and senior stakeholders to ensure that young people’s voices are not only heard but acted upon in terms of policy and practice. In 2023, she led a coalition of partner organisations to codevelop, with young people, a holiday and food programme for teenagers (HAF Plus). HAF Plus has now been recognised by the UK Government and provides a delivery model for many local authorities, including all London Boroughs in which the HAF Plus model provides a foundation for programmes that provide opportunities to 250,000 young Londoners. In 2025 she became President Elect the RSM Food and Health Section and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her services to Education, in the same year she was included in Who’s Who.

Todd Landman - Professor of Political Science and Research Director of the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham

Todd Landman is Professor of Political Science and Research Director of the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham. He is Head of the Prevalence Estimation Team and Deputy Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War, co-led by the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and the Rights Lab. He leads and contributes to projects estimating the prevalence of forced labour and human trafficking in Bulgaria, India, Malaysia, Niger, the Philippines, Romania, and along the US-Mexican border. He is co-author of Modern Slavery Prevalence Estimation in the UK: A Scoping Review in partnership with the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC). He is project lead for the Rights Lab – Sainsbury’s Human Rights Partnership and co-author of the report Towards a Just Transition in the UK Food Retail Sector - The Impact of Climate Change on the Human Rights of Workers. He is author of numerous books, articles, reports, and policy briefs on democracy, development, human rights, and modern slavery. The Rights Lab is the world’s largest research group working on modern slavery whose high quality and impactful research has been recognised through the award of the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education.

Harshal Gore - Director of Workforce and Economics, IGD

Harshal is Director of Workforce and Economics at IGD, where he leads work workforce strategy, and industry collaboration across the food sector. Previously, he served at Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as Head of Strategy and Engagement for circular economy programmes, driving cross-sector initiatives to support implementation of new packaging reforms. Earlier in his career, Harshal spent over 20 years at GS1 in the UK and Canada, holding executive roles focused on digital transformation, supply chain innovation, and sustainability. His work spanned both global and UK markets, partnering with industry leaders to deliver large-scale, collaborative solutions. He brings a unique combination of public policy, industry leadership, and international experience to workforce and economic challenges facing the sector today

Full Rates

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(until 7th August)