Program Information

10:00 – 10:30 am

Food Packaging Law, Food Contact
Materials Developments
Eric F. Greenberg, Principal Attorney, Eric F. Greenberg PC and Legal Editor and Columnist, Packaging World

The valuable Food Contact Notification Program has recently been under budgetary threat, and has also been refined by changes in FDA recommendations.  Hear about the ways this boon to R&D has been adjusted and its prospects for the future.

10:30 – 11:45 am

Current Environmental Law Developments and Food and Beverage Packaging: Sustainability and Beyond
Victor Bell, CEO, EPI, Global environmental packaging & product stewardship consultants

Sustainability is getting all the headlines, but other developments on the environmental front affecting food and beverage packaging also continue to affect your business. Hear about the latest sustainability programs as well as trends in materials bans, and other new developments.

11:45– 12:30 pm

A State Official’s Advice Regarding
Emergencies and Recalls
Marlena Bordson, L.E.H.P. Chief, Division of Food, Drugs and Dairies, Office of Health Protection, Illinois Dept of Public Health

Food recalls due to safety issues seem to be more frequent and have a higher profile then ever. In this presentation, Marlena Bordson, Acting Chief of the Division of Food, Drugs and Dairies in the Illinois Department of Public Health, is a top Illinois official with responsibility for food safety, and she will give her personal perspective on what makes for an effective recall, and pitfalls for companies to avoid. Hear first-hand from a state government official with the legal responsibility to protect the public health who has had to help companies implement food safety recalls.

12:30 – 1:15 pm

Luncheon

1:15 – 2:00 pm

FDA's Initiatives to Ensure the Safety of Foods
for the U.S. Consumer
David A. Acheson, M.D., Associate Commissioner for Foods, Food & Drug Administration

FDA's recently announced food protection plan is only one of the agency’s many efforts aimed at assuring that our imported and domestic food supply is safe. The Associate Commissioner for Foods, FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, who is also a former Assistant FDA Commissioner for Food Protection, tells us about the agency’s actions and concerns.

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Crazy Internet E-mails about PCBs, Dioxins, Phthalates, and Other Substances in Food Packaging: Fact and Fallacy
George D. Sadler, PhD, Independent Consultant,
Eric F. Greenberg, P.C.

Numerous e-mails warning about the dangers of PCBs, dioxins, phthalates, and other substances "leaching" from food containers to food have been circulating on the Internet for years in an attempt to instill fear of packaging materials – plastics in particular – in the average consumer. Hear a former FDA review chemist separate fact from fallacy regarding these e-mails, discuss FDA's response to them, and explain what manufacturers can do to ensure that their products do not perpetuate fears about food packaging.

2:30 – 3:15 pm

Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets: Special Considerations For Food and Beverage Packaging
Jack Fassnacht, Clausen Miller

A food and beverage package's “intellectual property” (patents, trademarks, copyrights) is central to its value in the marketplace. Protection of that intellectual property is crucial to success. Hear from an intellectual property attorney with experience protecting packaging structures, and package labeling, about the special considerations for protection of food and beverage packaging and labeling.

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Break

3:30-4:15 pm

European Legal Developments Affecting Food
and Beverage Packaging
Kerry T. Rost, Associate, Eric F. Greenberg PC

European Union directives on plastics and packaging have been a hotbed of recent activity. This presentation with summarize some of the most important recent developments affecting food and beverage packaging to be sold in the U.S.

4:15 – 5:00 pm

Nanotechnology and Food & Beverage Packaging: Challenging the Law
Mark Duvall, Managing Counsel,
The Dow Chemical Company

The exciting and emerging field of nanotechnology has already provided useful applications for food and beverage packaging as well as food ingredients. The unique physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles, however, challenge the legal and regulatory framework governing food contact materials. In this presentation, we will hear a fascinating summary of this emerging technology and the ways in which some companies and groups are addressing the question of the adequacy of the present legal framework to address safety issues.