Frank Yiannas, the Food and Drug Administration’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response and the former food safety expert at Walmart, is delivering the opening speech at the GS1 Connect 2020.
The conference and expo is June 16-18 at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Yiannas will talk about the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety, which is designed to promote industry collaboration and the adoption of technology and other modern tools create a digital, traceable and safer food system by 2021, according to a news release.
The FDA has four key pillars for the food safety initiative:
- Tech-enabled traceability and outbreak response;
- Smarter tools and approaches for prevention;
- New business models and retail modernization; and
- Food safety culture.
“With food safety awareness at an all-time high and the critical need for traceability improvements and regulation, Frank’s perspective about shaping a better future will be invaluable,” Bob Carpenter, president and CEO of GS1 US, said in the release. “Additionally, given his long history overseeing GS1 Standards implementations at Walmart, attendees will hear firsthand his view about how a common set of standards can help scale traceability across our global supply chain.”
Yiannas, who joined the FDA in 2018, has led food safety activities that include outbreak response, traceback investigations and recall activities, according to the release.
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