CIEH Food Safety Conference

Callum Bradford, PhD student and research associate, School of Health and Life Sciences at Teesside University. Callum’s research interests lie within interventions for and influences on health behaviour change, with his PhD project concerning the development of a walking football intervention for people with chronic breathlessness, promoting exercise-maintenance following pulmonary rehabilitation. Callum also has an MSc in Health Psychology.

Heather Brown, Professor of Health Inequalities at Lancaster University. Heather's main research interests are the economics causes and consequences of health inequalities and policy evaluation. Heather uses large datasets including linked data to evaluate policy as well as identify current trends and areas for future policy and interventions. She is also interested in engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to make complex quantitative data analysis accessible and user friendly.

Natalie Bungay, Technical and Compliance Manager, British Pest Control Association (BPCA). Natalie’s responsibilities include compiling and ensuring the industry has access to BPCA codes of best practice and guidance documents, delivering CPD to the sector, representing BPCA at committees and forums, speaking to the media, and ensuring members have access to technical support. Her career in pest management began in 2002. Natalie’s expertise includes rural and urban pest management, public health pests, and legislation. In 2009, she moved into a supervisory position within Leeds City Council, having responsibility for technician management, tender management, contract management, and supporting statutory services within the local authority. Since 2013, Natalie has continued to deliver high level industry consultation with BPCA.

Sterling Crew, President, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST). Sterling is a food safety advocate with 40 years’ experience working in food safety, security, authenticity and global supply chain governance. He is a trustee of CIEH and sits on the CIEH Food Advisory Panel. He also chairs The Food Authenticity Network, holds a number of food related board positions, and acts as an independent scientific and regulatory advisor. Sterling started his career in government before a successful track history in retail, manufacturing and the branded world. His experience as a regulator, retailer, brand owner and food manufacturer has given him a unique perspective on the challenges of the global food supply system.

Michael Eade, Lead Officer (Commercial Environmental Health), Runnymede Borough Council. Michael has been involved in data collection through his company Encentre, and noisenuisance.org, where he developed applications that aimed to improve the management of environmental health services. He has an interest in researching food safety; particularly in relation to inspection programmes relating to the catering and retail sectors. After ten years of data collection, he recently had published the first of his studies based on food hygiene data. He currently leads a small team of EHOs in Runnymede.

Rob Easton BSc, MSc, MBA, CenvH, FCIEH, FInstLM, Head of Environmental Health, Shield Safety. Rob has been supporting organisations to improve their safety performance and culture for over 25 years. His varied roles in the UK and internationally as a trainer, enforcement officer, business operator, senior safety leader and consultant means Rob brings an almost unique perspective on food safety. He is a Chartered Fellow of CIEH and supports the advancement of the profession as a member of the Membership, Learning and Profession Advisory Group and the Food Safety Advisory Panel.

Ed Foster, Head of Public Safety and Regulation, Newcastle City Council. Ed has over 35 years’ experience as a Chartered Environmental Health Officer. He has worked throughout his career in Newcastle upon Tyne and has worked in all the different disciplines of Environmental Health. For the past 9 years he has been Head of Public Safety and Regulation at Newcastle City Council. Ed is keen to support businesses and business growth and has led the region in its ‘Better Business for All’ initiatives. He loves the North East and the beauty of the North East Countryside, which he regularly explores on his bike.

Claire George, Senior Practitioner and Food Lead Officer, Newcastle City Council. Claire has a BSc in Environmental Health. She joined Newcastle City Council in 1998 and has worked in food safety since 2005, becoming the Food Lead Officer in 2021. Claire has experience in investigating allergen related food complaints and has taken successful prosecutions for allergen related offences. Claire has close family members with peanut allergies so has a personal as well as professional interest in the subject.

Alison Hunter, Team Manager – Food Safety, Health and Safety, Planning & Events, Newcastle City Council. Alison began her career as a Senior Technician in Pollution Control at East Staffordshire Borough Council. She studied towards a MSc in Environmental Health at the University of Birmingham, taking up her first post in Food Safety in 1998. In 2002, she returned to her home city of Newcastle, staying within Food Safety. Having worked on a number of projects across the wide EH spectrum, she currently manages a varied team of fourteen hardworking and brilliant officers who continually strive to make the city a better place to eat, live, work and visit.

Tayo Irawo, Food Safety Consultant and Trainer, Cardiff Metropolitan University. Tayo is an accomplished food safety professional, with a strong background in food manufacturing. As a former Marks & Spencer food technologist, she brings a wealth of technical expertise to her role as a Principal Trainer for BRCGS Food Safety, Storage and Distribution, and Packaging Standards. Tayo offers bespoke training solutions, specialising in product safety management courses, and she has extensive experience as a food safety auditor in both manufacturing and catering. She is also an Associate Tutor at Cardiff Metropolitan University, where she recently submitted her thesis on factors influencing food safety compliance and culture.

Nick Mole, Policy Officer, Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK. Nick joined PAN UK in March 2007 as the UK and European Programme Coordinator. Prior to joining PAN UK, Nick studied environmental science focussing on hydrology, water quality and environmental hazards. He also spent six years at the Environmental Investigation Agency as a campaigner, working on a diverse range of issues relating to investigating and exposing the illegal trade in endangered species.

Helen Moore, Associate Professor, Teesside University. She leads the day-to-day work of the Evaluation and Impact Team. Helen's research focuses on many aspects of public health through evidence synthesis using systematic review methodologies or by the development and evaluation of community-based interventions. Helen particularly enjoys helping people design their research and evaluation work to generate the most useful and impactful results within the resources available.

Winnie Pang, Senior Environmental Health Officer, Reading Borough Council. Winnie has worked in the busy Food and Safety team at Reading for 15 years. Her responsibilities cover a broad spectrum, including food hygiene inspections, complaint and RIDDOR investigations, special treatments, and sports ground safety. Winnie is committed to protecting public health and has particular interest in infectious diseases, food sampling and control of legionella in cooling towers. She was the Primary Authority officer for national food businesses until 2021 and has a range of enforcement experience.

Katie Pettifer, Strategy and Regulatory Compliance Director, Food Standards Agency (FSA). Katie is responsible for the FSA’s strategy, communications, legal, regulatory compliance and governance work. Katie also leads the FSA’s Achieving Business Compliance Programme, which is reforming the way that food businesses are regulated by local authorities. Before joining the FSA in July 2021, Katie was the Public Policy Director at Ofcom, where she played a major role in shaping Ofcom’s work to improve mobile and broadband coverage across the UK and to develop new regulation to protect people from harmful content online. She also led on Ofcom’s diversity and inclusion strategy. Before that, Katie spent two decades in the civil service, and held senior roles in the Ministry of Justice, the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office.

Ruth Rhodes, Commercial Team Manager in Environmental Health at Wakefield Council. Ruth qualified as an EHP in 2001 and has worked at Wakefield for 18 years. Ruth has worked across the EH specialisms but her passion is for business and better regulation having led on policy, Better Business For All projects and the Primary Authority partnership scheme since their inception. Ruth currently manages a team of 12 people who are EHP’s, Health Development Officers, admin support and a marketing apprentice. .

Dr Rosario Romero, Science Lead for Novel foods at Fera Science. Rosario has a background in cell biology, protein biochemistry and food science. Her work at Fera spans across various areas of food safety and authenticity, including proteomic approaches for meat speciation and allergen detection, and molecular diagnostics of microbial pathogens in the agri-food sector. Rosario has a strong interest in the safety aspects of alternative proteins, and she is involved in collaborative projects in this field with academics, government, and industry partners.

Sean Suckling, Head of Local Authority Resourcing Project Team, Food Standards Agency (FSA). The Local Authority Resourcing Team was set up in response to the findings of the Local Authority Capacity and Capability research which was published last year. Sean first came to the FSA on secondment in 2017. Prior to this, he worked as an Environmental Health Officer at a number of local authorities. His last role was Public Protection Manager in a unitary authority with lead responsibility for food, feed and a range of other regulatory areas.

Dr Shubhi Sharma, Scientific Research Assistant, CHEM Trust. Shubhi has been CHEM Trust’s Scientific Research Assistant since March 2023. She holds a BSc in Biotechnology, a MSc in Environmental Sciences, and a PhD in Environmental Sociology. She spent six years working as a research assistant and guest lecturer at the University of Edinburgh before joining CHEM Trust.

The British Lion is the UK’s most successful food safety scheme and Lion marked eggs are approved by the Food Standards Agency to be eaten runny by pregnant women, the elderly and children. All eggs that carry the British Lion mark meet the stringent requirements of the British Lion Code of Practice which ensures the highest standards of food safety. The independently audited code contains strict food safety controls above and beyond EU and UK legislation and covers nearly 1,000 auditable points from Salmonella vaccination to complete traceability of hens, eggs and feed.

The Code of Practice for the Production of British Lion Quality Egg Products ensures that egg products are also produced to the highest standards of food safety.

How do you know your pest management company is fit for the fight?

British Pest Control Association (BPCA) is the professional association for the UK public health pest management industry. By choosing an assessed BPCA member you can be assured that the services you receive are from a trained and trusted company that meets our strict membership criteria. Our member companies meet or exceed all pest management 'due diligence' requirements and comply with the most current legislation. No other trade body gives you this security. Make sure you stay safe. Select a BPCA Member every time.

bpca.org.uk/find

01332 294 288

How do you know your pest management company is fit for the fight?

FreshCheck's Hygiene Verification System is a simple, affordable and software-backed method for confirming cleanliness. The colour change swabs detect microbial contamination, and the results can be easily stored and analysed via the HVS app. The system has been independently tested by Campden BRI, approved as safe for use on food surfaces by NSF Intl., and we have partnered with BRCGS to ensure the HVS adheres with Issue 9 regulations too. Get in touch now to stay safe and save costs.

Osborne Richardson are the market leading provider of professional Environmental Health recruitment services throughout the UK and have been providing services to Local Authorities and the private sector for 30 years. We are able to offer a range of staffing solutions from short term contract to longer term consultancy services, from 1 member of temporary staff to a whole team of Consultants or permanent appointments. Clients value our honesty and integrity and we have worked in partnership to develop long standing relationships across our network that allow us to deliver a professional and reliable service.

For job seekers, our unrivalled technical knowledge and long standing connections to the environmental health profession allows us to offer unbiased and informed advice to those at all stages of their career whether working on a contract or permanent basis.

For more information about how we can help and to see all of our current opportunities please visit our website.

Osborne Richardson
3rd Floor, 66-68 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SR
Tel 0207 580 1500
[email protected]