2019 Speakers
Caroline Smith-deWaal
Tammy Switucha
Dr. William Yan
Paul Keery
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is the Acting Dean and Professor in the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. From 2004 to 2010, he was a member of the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Regina in Regina, Canada. Dr. Charlebois is an award winning researcher and teacher. He also served as the Director of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (Regina Campus).
His current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety, and has published many peer-reviewed journal articles in several publications. His research has been featured in a number of newspapers, including The Economist, the Globe & Mail, the National Post, the Toronto Star, MacLean’s, and La Presse, as well as on the Business News Network, CBC Radio and TV, Global, CTV, TVO and TVA.
He is currently writing a fourth book on global food safety systems, to be published later this year. He conducts policy analysis, evaluation, and demonstration projects for government agencies and major foundations focusing on agricultural policies and community development both in Canada and in development settings.
Dr. Charlebois is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces, in the United States, Brazil, Italy, France, Belgium, China, Great Britain, Finland and the Netherlands. SESSION Industry Expert: International Food Safety Systems Analyze Canada, U.S. and Global Food Policies to Provide Safe Food
Erik Hansen
Erik founded DesBarres Chocolate with his partner Ariane in 2015. Initially a part-time outlet for their passion for chocolate, it continues to demand more and more of their time. Erik’s love of dark chocolate was confined to that of a consumer as he pursued a career in the Life and Health Sciences. He provided research tools for Pharma, Biotech Government and Academic labs, and worked for 16 years at GE Healthcare (formerly Amersham Biosciences) finishing as VP Sales/Marketing. Erik then had opportunities to work with a number of small start-ups before venturing into the world of consulting.
Chocolate now occupies the majority of Erik’s time as he and Ariane continue to receive international recognition for their bean to bar chocolate. With sales continuing to grow in the high double digits annually, regulatory compliance is but one ball that has to be constantly juggled.
Jennifer Marchand
Jennifer Marchand began her career in food safety, quality and regulatory in 1998 at Cargill’s Clavet, Saskatchewan canola processing facility following her graduation from the University of Saskatchewan. She assumed a variety of food safety and quality assurance leadership roles for Cargill in both the processing and specialty vegetable oils space over the next 11 years. In 2009 she joined Louis Dreyfus as a member of a project build team for a greenfield vegetable oil crushing and refining facility accountable for designing and implementing all food safety and quality assurance programs. Following this, she returned to Cargill in 2011 and is currently in the role of Canadian Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Leader for Cargill’s agricultural and processing businesses in Canada with extension into the United States. Jennifer chaired the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association Food, Feed Safety and Regulatory Committee for 8 years and has had extensive interaction with government agencies both domestically and abroad speaking about both the Canadian oilseed processing industry and Cargill’s food safety and quality assurance practices. She is on the board of directors of the Canola Council of Canada and serves on a variety of industry association and government committees providing insight and support to ensure the safety and quality of the grains, oils, food and feed produced in Canada.
Lesley Brennan PhD, MPH
Dr. Lesley Brennan is the Program Manager at the Children’s Environmental Health Clinic (ChEHC) in Edmonton, Alberta. ChEHC is a WHO Collaborating Centre in Child Health and the Environment and the only program of its kind in Canada. Dr. Brennan works with a multidisciplinary team of experts to provide expert patient care, clinical research, and support the development of educational resources for Child Health and the Environment.
Dr. Brennan earned her PhD in Cell Physiology at the University of Alberta in 2011 and her MPH from the University of Saskatchewan in 2015. Her work at ChEHC is dedicated to identifying and mitigating environmental hazards and protecting children’s health. She also strives to expand knowledge of children’s environmental health within the community.
Christeen Lewis
Lawrence Goodridge
Brenda Stradinger
Sylvanus Thompson
Ron Judge
Joyce Hughes
Joyce received her Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1988 and worked for many years as a research and plant engineer for Canada Packers (now Maple Leaf) and Unilever. At these companies she gained considerable experience in how equipment affects and ensures great quality products can be effectively produced. She then entered the world of Operations Management and worked for companies such as Neilson Dairy (now Saputo), Kraft, Arla Foods, Cott Beverages and now Chudleighs bakery. She has a wide range of experience including safety, operations, quality and food safety management, plant engineering, continuous improvement, business development, union and non-union culture improvement in startup and turn around facilities. She has worked on quality improvement projects such as listeria mitigation, high care and high risk controls, nonconformance and corrective action programs, effective training of full time and temporary workers and how to make food safety a priority focus in daily operations. Currently she is VP of Operations at Chudleighs and oversee the quality department where they have maintained a BRC AA for the past two years.
Shannon McCoy
Shannon McCoy is currently the Director of Food Safety and Quality at Maple Leaf Foods. Her focus in on the development and implementation of the Food Safety and Quality programs to support the strategic direction of Maple Leaf Foods and advance the companies maturity in Food Safety and Quality both in corporate direction and on the shop floor.
Previously at Maple Leaf Foods, Shannon had direct oversight of the implementation and execution of Food Safety and Quality programs at 9 further processed meat facilities across Canada.
Shannon has previously held roles in national business management as the Canadian Business Manager for Diagnostics with DuPont where she led the support of diagnostic technologies for rapid pathogen detection including collaboration with Health Canada, CFIA, Standards Council of Canada and USDA for method approvals. Prior to her role in Diagnostics, Shannon achieved Six Sigma Black Belt status and was a founding member of the Food Safety Risk Assessment consulting business at DuPont Canada providing consultation and collaboration with industry in North America and Europe including the development of microbial mapping techniques for environmental monitoring. She successfully brought these techniques out of the plant and onto the farm to support Salmonella reduction strategies in poultry grow out operations globally and improve animal welfare in pork farm operations in Quebec and the Netherlands.
Shannon holds a BSc from the University of Toronto in Cell and Molecular Biology. She has worked at Maple Leaf Foods since 2011.
Joe Darden
Anthony Morello
Mike Clark
Kim Onett
Christa Lovelock
Jason Hlywka
Dr. Jason Hlywka is the corporate global toxicologist for The Kraft Heinz Company headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA. In this capacity, Dr. Hlywka has responsibility for leadership and direction on various regulatory and scientific affairs matters that are pertinent to food safety and consumer health across a broad portfolio of food products around the world. Dr. Hlywka has dedicated his career to the applied field of food toxicology as it relates to human health and assessing the safety of dietary constituents. His research experience includes analytical and clinical studies on food allergens, and providing guidance on food allergen management practices is within the scope of his current role. Dr. Hlywka completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in toxicology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. He received his Ph.D. in food science and toxicology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA and completed post-doctoral training at the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program at Nebraska under the guidance of Drs. Steve Taylor and Sue Hefle. Prior to Kraft Heinz, Dr. Hlywka has held industry positions with Kraft Foods, Cargill, and Cantox Health Sciences International. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and participates in various industry, academic, and scientific associations and committees.
Dan Hays
Sam Sum
