2 December 2019 at Brockway Room, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL
John Figgins, Technical Specialist – Food, BRCGS
John has over 30 years’ experience in the food industry, starting his career in 1985 with the Laboratory of the Government Chemist as a food scientific officer working a range of projects considering the composition of foods, veterinary residues and the legality of food products.
In 2000 he joined Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd as Chemical Safety Manager within the Product Safety team responsible for the prevention of food contaminants, procedures to ensure the authenticity of products, allergen policy and management of allergens within the supply chain.
John joined BRCGS in 2012 and is responsible for two of the Global Standards - Food Safety and Agents & Brokers.
Kathryn Gilbertson, Partner, Greenwoods GRM
Kathryn Gilbertson is the Head of Regulatory. She has specialised in this field for over 30 years. Her wealth of experience enables her clients to achieve what they need most in a crisis - peace of mind.
Kathryn advises companies on UK/ European regulatory issues, including compliance with the law governing fire safety, health and safety, environmental, food safety and corporate governance matters.
She has a unique insight into the regulatory regime within which all companies trade in the UK and Europe, because of her 10 years of experience as a prosecutor for various government agencies.
Her technical skills and pragmatic approach helps company directors with the difficult decisions following an incident - do they have any personal liability and how bad is it for the company?
Kathryn provides bespoke training to boards of directors on issues such as the impact of the Sentencing Guidelines. She is a frequently speaker at national and international conferences on developing issues including the Allergens. The legal directories recognise Kathryn as a leader in the field.
Richard Hyde, Professor of Law, Regulations and Governance, University of Nottingham
Richard Hyde is Professor of Law, Regulation and Governance at the University of Nottingham. He is a member of the University’s Future Food Beacon. Before joining the University of Nottingham, he was a Solicitor specialising in risk and regulation, and a lecturer at Northumbria University. His primary research interest are in food regulation, regulation more generally, and law and technology. He is also an Associate Editor of Charlesworth and Percy on Negligence. He works in an interdisciplinary manner with colleagues to provide novel insights to issues of regulation and governance. He is currently working with colleagues in Computer Science and Politics to produce a virtual reality game intended to improve food hygiene and safety compliance, with colleagues in computer science and engineering to understand how new technologies, such as robot vacuum cleaners and sensors, could alter food production and with colleagues in English to use linguistic analysis to improve the transparency of contracts. Richard makes frequent media appearances discussing topics in food law, consumer law and information law.
Sam Jennings, Chair IFST Food Regulatory Group
Sam Jennings provides advice to industry and governments globally on scientific, technical and regulatory aspects of food, particularly in relation to food supplements and functional foods. She offers support for dossier production for submission to the Commission and EFSA, particularly for novel foods, food additives and health claims. Since 2006, Sam has been Technical Adviser to the Council for Responsible Nutrition UK (CRN UK). She has been a member of the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) international Technical Working Group since its conception in 2010, and was appointed Chair of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) Food Regulatory Group in 2012. She has been directly involved with the Codex Committee on Food Additives since 2013 and attends the annual meetings as Head of Delegation and spokesperson for IADSA, an accredited NGO under Codex Alimentarius.
Sam is a Fellow of the IFST in the UK and is active on the IFST Food Law Group. She is also a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, USA and of the Society of Dairy Technology. Sam has authored and co-authored papers on a variety of food-related topics, and has also co-authored a number of chapters in books on food science, food technology and food law, a recent one of which has been translated and published in China and Russia. She was one of the editors of, and contributor to, the 3rd edition of the UK Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN)’s ‘Technical Guide for the Manufacture of Food Supplements’ (2009) and is joint editor, and contributor to, a new text book by the CRN UK Technical Committee (publication due early 2017).
Sam has presented to governments and industry worldwide on topics including stability of food supplements, EU food law, GMP and other technical issues as required. She also runs tailored workshops for companies on EU food law and claims.