Grow Your Network and Knowledge at the 2026 Food Safety Summit

As you're reading this, the Food Safety Summit's Educational Advisory Board and organizing committee are putting the finishing touches on your 2026 Summit experience. We look forward to welcoming you to Rosemont, Illinois next month for another world-class event uniting the food safety community!

The 28^th annual Food Safety Summit, taking place May 11–14 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, features four days of high-level certificate courses, hands-on workshops, a Keynote and Town Hall, impactful education sessions, exhibit hall festivities, and of course our Tuesday and Wednesday night receptions. 

This year's agenda is organized by day, event type, and topic to help you pinpoint the learning opportunities of most interest to you. Click the agenda link to discover more, and read on for a preview of the opportunities available at the 2026 Summit.

Certificate Courses and Workshops 

The Summit offers a variety of certificate courses, beginning on Monday, May 11 and spanning 1–2.5 days. Attendees are awarded a certificate of completion upon successfully finishing the course. This year, the Summit is offering certificate courses on the topics of food fraud prevention, AI for food safety document writing, hazard analysis, and FSPCA's Preventive Controls for Human Food.

Tuesday, May 12 marks the start of our hands-on, interactive workshop sessions led by seasoned experts in industry, regulatory, and academia (Figure 1). This year's workshops will tackle several timely topics including leveraging AI for food safety, the costs and benefits of risk mitigation programs, effective management of food allergens, food safety culture, and controlling pathogen harborage sources.

Tuesday and Wednesday Evening Receptions

The perfect way to cap off the first day of workshops is by attending the official Welcome Reception, which takes place on the Exhibit Hall floor on Tuesday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Kick back and enjoy food, drink, and conversation with your peers and colleagues at our exhibitor companies, who will be pleased to answer your questions about the solutions and support they offer.

We also look forward to welcoming you to our Wednesday evening Food Safety Summit Gives Back reception benefiting Stop Foodborne Illness. The reception, which takes place from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. and includes refreshments, will highlight the Food Safety Summit community's donation to Stop Foodborne Illness, a national nonprofit public health organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne illness. The total donation will include voluntary attendee donations (learn how to donate here).

Education Sessions

Our expert-led education sessions will engage your mind, voice, and problem-solving skills by tackling the most pressing challenges and innovative solutions in food safety today. You'll gain valuable knowledge and brainstorm with your fellow attendees on topics such as hazard and contamination control, technology advances (including AI), leadership and culture, workforce trends, HACCP and risk assessment, regulatory compliance, traceability, and a host of other topics. Many sessions will cover food safety across the industry spectrum, while others will focus on specific sectors such as processing, retail/foodservice, or produce—and all will provide you with immediately actionable solutions that you can take back to your company. 

Visit the agenda and click on "Sessions" under "Filter By Type" to view all of the topics offered under our education program this year. For an interesting preview of how the 2026 Summit themes resonate with recent industry surveys by Food Safety Magazine's "Food Safety Insights" column, check out Bob Ferguson's article in this issue.

“Networking, knowledge-sharing, and innovation are what the Summit is all about.”

Keynote and Town Hall General Sessions

In addition to our education sessions, the Summit offers two lively general sessions—the Keynote and the Town Hall. Taking place on Wednesday, May 13 from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m., this year's Keynote Session will present a fireside chat with Joan Menke-Schaenzer, Chief Quality Offer at Van Drunen Farms, moderated by Wall Street Journal food reporter Jesse Newman. Joan will speak about leading with courage, collaboration, and curiosity in a changing world, offering an inspiring dialogue on the human side of protecting our global food system.

The Town Hall on Thursday, May 14 from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. will feature a real-time conversation with representatives from government and advisory groups: FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Kyle Diamantas; USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Mindy Brashears; CDC Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases Director Dr. Megin Nichols; and AFDO Executive Director Steven Mandernach. The four officials will share regulatory updates from their agencies and participate in a live Q&A session with attendees—so come prepared with your questions!

Dedicated Exhibit Hall Hours

The Exhibit Hall brings together the entire Summit community on Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., as well as during our Tuesday evening reception, for a plethora of learning and networking opportunities, relaxation time, the community hub, and of course lunch.

Our exhibiting companies and organizations, whose generous support makes the Summit possible, will be showcasing their technologies, solutions, and services through educational activities on the show floor, including new Guided Tours focusing on (1) technology and AI, and (2) sanitation and hygiene. Networking, knowledge-sharing, and innovation are what the Summit is all about—so don't miss the opportunity to make meaningful industry connections and discover practical solutions to meet your company's needs. 

When it's time to take a break from walking the floor, enjoy lunch at the dining area or catch up with your colleagues in the Community Hub at the center of the Exhibit Hall. You can also listen in on Food Safety Magazine's Podcast Theater interviews with Summit speakers and industry experts (Figure 2).

See You at the Summit!

Whether you've attended the Summit in recent years, are thinking of attending for the first time, or haven't joined us in a while but would like to see what's new—welcome! We look forward to making the Food Safety Summit an exciting, educational, and networking-rich event for you and your colleagues. 

If you need even more reasons to attend, click here to find out why attendees find the Summit to be an incredibly valuable experience year after year—and then visit our registration page to secure your participation. While you're at it, make sure to follow the Food Safety Summit LinkedIn page for event updates and community connections, and sign up for Summit news via email here. 

We look forward to welcoming you to an exciting and educational event in Rosemont next month!

References

1. Food Safety Matters Podcast. "Ep. 208. Reviewing 2025—A Year of Change for Food Safety Policy." Food Safety Magazine. December 23, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10994-ep-208-reviewing-2025a-year-of-change-for-food-safety-policy. 
2. Henderson, B. "51 Cases of Infant Botulism Dating Back to 2023 Now Included in ByHeart Outbreak." Food Safety Magazine. December 10, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10959-51-cases-of-infant-botulism-dating-back-to-2023-now-included-in-byheart-outbreak. 
3. Food Safety Matters Podcast. "Ep. 209. Helena Bottemiller Evich: The MAHA Effect on American Food Policy." Food Safety Magazine. January 13, 2026. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/11031-ep-209-helena-bottemiller-evich-the-maha-effect-on-american-food-policy. 
4. Henderson, B. and A. Blume. "A 2025 Timeline of U.S. Federal Food Safety Changes Under the Trump Admin." Food Safety Magazine. December 26, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/11004-a-2025-timeline-of-us-federal-food-safety-changes-under-the-trump-admin. 
5. Henderson, B. "Coalition Urges RFK Jr. to Fix Infant Formula Oversight Problems that Allowed Infant Botulism Outbreak." Food Safety Magazine. December 9, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10946-coalition-urges-rfk-jr-to-fix-infant-formula-oversight-problems-that-allowed-infant-botulism-outbreak.
6. Henderson, B. "Senator Demands Answers from ByHeart About Infant Formula Botulism Outbreak." Food Safety Magazine. December 23, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/11009-senator-demands-answers-from-byheart-about-infant-formula-botulism-outbreak.   
7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "HHS, FDA Announce Operation Stork Speed to Expand Options for Safe, Reliable, and Nutritious Infant Formula for American Families." March 18, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/hhs-fda-announce-operation-stork-speed-expand-options-safe-reliable-and-nutritious-infant-formula. 
8. FDA. "Closer to Zero: Reducing Childhood Exposure to Contaminants from Foods." Content current as of January 6, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/food/environmental-contaminants-food/closer-zero-reducing-childhood-exposure-contaminants-foods. 
9. Henderson, B. "FDA's Developing Rule to Tighten GRAS Oversight Moves to White House." Food Safety Magazine. December 2, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10918-fdas-developing-rule-to-tighten-gras-oversight-moves-to-white-house. 
10. Abrams, S.A., J. Thomas Brenna, R. Clemens, et al. "FDA Expert Panel on Infant Formula 'Operation Stork Speed' June 2025: Part 2, Regulatory and Safety Considerations." Advances in Nutrition (January 12, 2026): 100584. https://advances.nutrition.org/article/S2161-8313(25)00222-4/fulltext.
11. Food Safety Magazine Editorial Team. "Regan-Udall Report Supports FDA Infant Formula Safety Efforts." Food Safety Magazine. November 11, 2025. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10866-regan-udall-report-supports-fda-infant-formula-safety-efforts. 
12. Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA. "Infant Formula Roundtable Series: Report on Cross-Sector Stakeholder Insights." October 2025. https://reaganudall.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Infant_Formula_Roundtable_Series_Report.pdf.