Master of Science in Human Nutrition (Applied Biology), Bachelor of Science in Applied Chemistry. HACCP Certified and PCQI (Preventive Control Qualified Individual), Lead Instructor for PCQI (Preventive Control Qualified Individuals), an advanced SQF Practitioner, SQF practitioner, Registered SQF Consultant, ServeSafe Certified Manager, Certified ServeSafe Instructor and a registered ServeSafe Examination Proctor. Trained in vulnerability Assessment using Key Activity Types to mitigate Intentional Adulteration. More than 15 years of experience in food safety and food quality

For Adam Brock, it all started in the 5th grade. That was the year of the Jack in the Box E.coli outbreak and it made the news in Cincinnati (and might have been in a Weekly Reader)! From then on, Adam always found himself working somewhere in the food supply-chain – always working to ensure the safety and quality of food products.

He started out bagging groceries, collecting carts, and stocking dairy products at a small, local company (Kroger) in Cincinnati and then moved to Wisconsin in order to study Chemistry and German at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. It was during his time in Green Bay that has was first introduced to the different cheeses of the region – and fell in love! He then attended Kansas State University and received a Bachelor of Science in Food Science from Kansas State University. He has obtained additional education through the University of Wisconsin Madison, Iowa State University, Michigan State University and the Culinary Institute of America.

Adam has spent over 20 years in the food industry, holding roles in Quality, Research & Development, and Food Safety at industry leading food companies such as Smithfield Foods, Sargento Foods, and Papa John’s International.

When the opportunity came along to return to Wisconsin and help the dairy industry, Adam jumped at it! He is currently the Vice President of Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance for the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin where he works closely with producers, processors, and regulatory agencies to ensure that they have the knowledge and tools needed to ensure a safe, high quality food supply for generations to come. He works closely with the Center for Dairy Research and is also involved in the Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Program.

Adam holds several board level positions within a number of industry non-profit organizations including the Wisconsin Laboratory Association (1st VP), Wisconsin Association for Food Protection (Treasurer), American Cheese Society (Board of Directors and Chair of the Regulatory & Academic Committee), US-IDF (Treasurer), and the Wisconsin Dairy Rules Advisory Committee (Chair). He is one of the original founders of the Dairy Food Safety Alliance - a collaborative food safety forum – along with the Center for Dairy Research and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

When not immersed in the world of dairy or, Adam can be found enjoying time with his family on a little homestead outside of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He coaches youth sports, raises ducks, and likes to cook with cast iron.

Deni currently works as the global director of food safety for one of the largest Agricultural and food commodity companies in the world (Archer Daniels Midland Co). In this role, he oversees human and animal food safety, with a global value chain that includes approximately 450 crop procurement locations, more than 330 food/feed ingredient manufacturing facilities, 62 innovation centers, and the world’s premier crop transportation network. ADM was named the world’s most-admired food-production company by Fortune magazine for three consecutive years: 2009, 2010 and 2011.

With extensive experience in food safety and quality management systems, Dr Odugbemi had previously worked for several companies including, Pepsi bottling, Weston Foods, the Kroger Co and most recently Wayne farms. Dr Odugbemi serves on several professional committees and advisory boards.

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.

Fabien Robert Currently head of zone AMS for Nestlé Quality Assurance centres. He has worked for Nestlé for 20 years, dedicated to the enhancement of the quality of life and contributing to a healthier, sustainable future. His past positions within Nestlé have included the Analytical Services Manager and Food Safety Platform Leader in Corporate international HQ, Project Manager in the corporate Nestle Nutrition Operation department, and Project Manager in the corporate Regulatory and Scientific Affairs department.  He previously worked 9 years in R&D at the Nestle research Center in Lausanne (Switzerland). Fabien is a graduate of the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France, where he earned, amongst others, his Ph.D in Organic Chemistry. Following his university completion in France, Fabien earned his post-doctorates in Bio-Organic Chemistry and Organometallic Chemistry from Université de Genève/Sciences II & III in Switzerland. Fabien earns 56 publications in peers reviewed scientific journal and is an experienced speaker in scientific congress in food chemistry and food safety.

With a discipline instilled by the United States Marine Corps., and an educational background in Business Administration, Joshua gradually made the transition from Operations and Production into the Food Safety and Quality Assurance world.  As a lead auditor for both SQF and BRCGS, combined with a business background, Joshua brings a unique perspective that allows for bridging the gap between sales, production, and Food Safety, allowing for all departments to work hand in hand to ensure continued growth and success. Joshua was also the driving force behind designing and installing what is now the only ISO/IEC 17025 onsite laboratory in any seafood processing facility in the United States.

Mr. DeVillena has been in the poultry industry since 1999, when he started working with the U.S. FDA - Center for Veterinary Medicine, the Food Safety Lab at the University of Maryland and later at Perdue Farms in Georgetown, Delaware. He has been with Wayne Farms LLC for 17+ years. During this time, he has held roles in operations, quality assurance and food safety at various locations. He worked as QA supervisor, QA manager, plant manager and operations manager with Wayne Farms before moving into his current role of Director of Quality Assurance and Food Safety. Mr. DeVillena received his BS in food science and his professional degree in food engineering from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Lima, Peru; and his MS in food science from the University of Maryland. He is currently pursuing his PhD from Texas Tech University and has been a PhD candidate since June 2021. His expected graduation is May 2022.

Kim is a senior food safety professional with 30 years of experience under her belt. She was with Monterey Mushrooms for 12 years, currently held a position as their Food Safety Director. She is also a member of professional and industry organizations such as United Fresh and PMA Food Safety Committees and of the American Mushroom Institute Food Safety Task Force. Her expertise falls under Continuous Improvement, Leadership, Food Safety systems, Sanitary Design and Regulatory Compliance. Kim graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a focus on Nutrition Science/Food Science.

Mahir is currently Vice President of Food safety at PepsiCo Inc ($70B annual revenue). He leads global food safety organization, which is responsible for setting the standards and governing the processes for delivering right food safety standards for all categories (Foods & Beverages) with every pack and every bottle produced by more than 1100 manufacturing plants in PepsiCo portfolio globally.

He has been working at PepsiCo for more than 25 years with gradually increasing responsibilities. He started in India, worked in various Operations/supply chain roles including plant manager of the largest bottling plant in India. He then moved to New York and worked on building quality systems for Non- carbonated Beverages. After that he spent 3 years in Dubai heading Food safety & Quality function for Asia, Middle East, and Africa region. In 2015, he returned to PepsiCo headquarters in New York heading FSQA for Nutrition category globally ($13B annual revenue). Then he led the global program management for R&D implementing digital transformation projects like SAP and Virtual development.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Mahir worked at Unilever, India for 4 years in the area of Environment, Health & safety. He also worked for an Indian Company, Thermax, selling industrial products for 2 years.

Mahir is a chemical engineer and holds a postgraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

In his position as CEO and Managing Director, Mark is responsible for the long-term strategic direction, scientific and applied R&D initiatives, and positioning BOTANILINE® in emerging markets. While he is generally the ‘face’ of the company, Mark typically works with the top levels of the company’s management and leadership hierarchies as well as financial institutions to maximize the ROI for both BOTANILINE® and its strategic partners.

As the former CEO of MultiSorb Technologies, he established relationships with highly regulated international markets in the food, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries.  He led and improved his company over seven years from a negative net worth of $10,000,000 to an enterprise value of $150,000,000. 

Mark graduated first in his class from Ithaca College and received his Master’s Degree from George Washington University.

Michael has over 9 years of various food & beverage category experience in quality assurance and food safety. Key highlights of his career include multi-site implementation and adherence to SQF requirements and regulations as well as driving and educating lean six sigma principles in fast paced, cross-departmental environments. He joined Taylor Farms in 2020 as the Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance. Michael has earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Alfred University in Alfred, NY as well as his Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Villanova University.

Ms. Maxwell, Senior Principal Regulatory Scientist in Corporate Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. brings expertise in global finished foods labeling and claims as well as additives and flavors. Prior to Ocean Spray, she led the Scientific and Regulatory Affairs management function at Nestle USA responsible for all the retail/food service brands for North America. Her employment history includes Director-level global regulatory compliance group management at Cargill, Inc. Wild Flavors, Inc. as well as McCormick & Company and Givaudan where she describes her role as managing, motivating, coordinating and influencing multi-disciplinary functions to accomplish strategic business goals, anticipating regulatory obstacles/emerging issues throughout product lifecycle and developing solutions with other technical/commercial teams across global geographies (essentially herding cats!). Ms. Maxwell is a proud graduate of University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana with BS degree in Food Science and additional post graduate study in Carbohydrate Chemistry. Always lively and engaging, Ms. Maxwell turns conventional wisdom on its ear using comprehensive data that offers a compelling look at new regulatory trends. Her insights are drawn in part from Washington DC colleagues, as well as her global network “cabinet” of industry professionals and the occasional bureaucrat. Ms. Maxwell’s address comes during a remarkable time in the global food industry’s history. New science underscores the important role food compliance initiatives will have on consumer buying habits as well as down‐stream legislation. Meanwhile, negative media reports about serious food safety shortfalls have flooded consumers with information while companies and government bodies wrestle with solutions.

Randy Kohal joined the KLEANZ Food Safety Team in January 2019 as VP of Food Safety and Reliability. He had previously spent 39 years in food and beverage manufacturing. His former position was a corporate food safety and sanitation role with Rich Products. Randy is certified in Internal Auditing and Hygienic Design. He is a PCQI and a Certified Food Industry Professional.

Ray joined Prinova in 2016 to lead the quality programs for the flavor division. The department’s scope then expanded to include leading food safety and regulatory for Prinova USA. Currently, Ray is the Vice President of Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory and serves as a member on the executive team. 

His responsibilities include leading global standard councils that develop policies and programs to ensure quality and regulatory compliance, sustainability and a food safety culture.

Before joining Prinova, Ray began his career with FlavorFocus, LCC currently known as Brookside Flavors. He held quality control, operational and R&D resonsibilities and by the end of his tenure he was the head of quality and regulatory affairs. In this role he was responsible food safety, quality assurance, quality control, regulatory and safety.

Ray received a bachelor’s degree in Health Science and minors in Biology, Chemistry, and Physiology from Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois, and a master’s of business administration from Loyola University – Chicago Quinlan School of Business.

Sol Rypin serves as Sr. Principal Team Leader of Supplier Quality and Safety (SQS) at Chick-fil-A, Inc. The SQS team focuses on 5 key areas: Risk Mitigation, Performance Management, Process and Production Control, Issue Response and Solutions and Innovation. In her role, she leads the team that ensures that Chick-fil-A products (Perishables, Packaging, Consumer Products and Production Equipment) meet safety and quality standards consistently. Her scope of work also includes Facility Risk Assessments and Distribution Safety. She joined Chick-fil-A in 2012 and has held safety and quality roles since then. Prior to Chick-fil-A, she was the Quality Assurance Manager at Flanders Provisions, a frozen beef manufacturer in South Georgia.

Sol holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar, in Caracas, Venezuela and a Master’s of Science Degree in Food Science and Technology from The University of Georgia. 

Sol and her husband reside near Atlanta with their two children.

Since August of 2005 Steve has been a member of the corporate leadership team as Senior Vice President of Technical Services & Corporate Quality for The Bumble Bee Seafood Company, one of North America’s largest branded seafood companies and a 120-year leader in the seafood industry. As an expert in problem solving, crisis management and risk management, he is sought out by his peers to help manage tough issues to successful outcomes. Steve’s current focus is on developing people, creating positive consumer experiences and driving food safety & compliance within the company and with its business partners, consistent with the company’s mission to create a new generation of seafood lovers.

Wadad Farhat is currently the Senior Director for the Snacks, Salty and Frozen Breakfast Category for Food Safety and Quality that oversees the execution and compliance of Food Safety, Sanitation, Quality Management Systems, Compliance to Design, and Kellogg Work Systems for 7 plants for the Kellogg Company. Kellogg’s is the world’s leading cereal producing company and the world’s second largest producer of crackers and savory snacks. Kellogg’s is also a leading North American Frozen foods company producing products that include Eggo Brand Waffles and Morningstar Farms veggie products.

Wadad has over 27 years in the food industry and joined Kellogg’s in 1994.  She has had numerous Research & Development and Supply Chain roles in the company.

Wadad holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and MS in Food Processing Engineering from the Ohio State University.

Yanyan is the global director of quality control and lab operations for ADM. ADM's purpose is to unlock the power of nature, to enrich the quality of life. We transform natural products into a complete portfolio of ingredients and flavors for foods and beverages, supplements, nutrition for pets and livestock and more. And with an array of unparalleled capabilities across every part of the global food chain, we give our customers an edge in solving global challenges of today and tomorrow. ADM has more than 180 quality control labs globally, which serve internal and external customers. Yanyan leads the global initiative of standardization, optimization, and continuous improvement of ADM quality control processes.

Yanyan has a Ph.D. in microbiology and a minor in biotechnology.  Prior to joining ADM, Yanyan served as a food safety scientific director with Danone, where she successfully led the company’s global allergen control program and food safety risk assessments in microbiology, ingredient, chemical contaminants and packaging. Yanyan has extensive experience in building global food safety programs (EMP, Food Safety Plan/Hazard Control Plan, Allergen Control Program, Positive Release Program, Process Validation, Chemical Contaminant Monitoring Program et.) and leading a high function team.