Registration and Continental Breakfast

Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks

In-House Counsel Benchmarking Roundtable

The Latest Trends, Regulatory Developments, and Potential Liabilities for Food Companies

In this sessions our leading in-house counsel will discuss major challenges impacting their companies and strategies for approaching them in order to keep their companies compliant.

• Examining the greatest challenges in-house counsel face now
• From where do in-house counsel expect to see potential liabilities arising?
• Balancing the need to be innovative and in step with consumer preferences with legal and regulatory requirements
• A walk-through strategies in-house counsel employ when their companies face a claim
• Best practices for responding to pre-suit notice letters
• Devising best practices for counseling sales and marketing teams when responding to consumer requests

Morning Coffee Break

Plant-Based “Meats” and “Milks”: Examining the Standards of Identity and FDA’s/USDA’s Anticipated Regulatory Platform

In the era when consumers increasingly shop in a way consistent with their values, this session will focus on the most recent developments involving protein-alternative foods as well as the actual and anticipated regulatory framework.

• Exploring the latest developments with respect to the standards of identity for:
  • Plant-based “meat” products
  • Plant-based dairy alternatives
• Plant-based vs. lab-grown meat: What are the different regulatory requirements?
• Examining the anticipated FDA/USDA regulatory framework
• Analyzing the various states’ approaches to plant-based “meats” and “milks”: will the current approaches by some states result in a state-by-state patchwork?
• What can a company interested in advertising a product that doesn’t fit a particular standard of identity do at this time?
  • Suggested ways for mitigating risk posed by plaintiffs’ attorneys and various state laws
• What are the anticipated class action theories?

Process for developing and labeling of protein-alternative foods

• When developing these products, what are the premarket requirements?
• What needs to be submitted to the FDA/USDA?
• How can safety be established?
• How long is it expected this process to take?

Fireside Chat with a Company Using CBD in Food

Networking Luncheon

CLASS ACTION STRATEGIES

Practical Pointers for Avoiding and Resolving Claims in Light of Plaintiff Bar’s Continuously Evolving Theories

• Analyzing plaintiffs bar’s recent successful theories
  • What kinds of claims are yielding results?
• Latest developments with the slack fill claims: are these claims here to stay?
• State of the union with respect to the “natural” “all natural” and “healthy” claims
  • Has FDA’s formal guidance on healthy brought desired clarification?
• Examining the status of the geographic origin claims: what have been the recent developments?
• Devising actionable strategies for avoiding these claims
• Forecasting the next wave of class actions: Flavor claims – vanilla, chocolate, etc.

A Townhall with the FDA and USDA

Hear from FDA and USDA representatives responsible for the implementation and oversight of food safety regulations within their agencies as they address current and proposed rules, recent regulatory actions, and priorities for 2020 and beyond.

Afternoon Refreshment Break

FDA RULE ROUNDUP

Nutrition Facts Label 2020 Implementation Analysis

• What will FDA’s enforcement of the new nutrition facts label look like given that food companies can use old labels until December 31st of 2019?
• Is it anticipated that the enforcement will start later than 2020?
• Understanding clean labeling
• What claims are currently high-risk claims and what can be done from a labeling perspective to reduce them?

Examining the Status of the Implementation of Bioengineered Foods Disclosure Requirement

• Examining the developments with the implementation of the bioengineered food disclosure requirement
  • Have food companies experienced any practical obstacles to the implementation
• Addressing the issues involving testing by the FDA, consumers, and competitors
• Developments with respect to FDA enforcement
• Analyzing the developments with the gene-edited foods and the industry’s push for gene-edited foods to not get the same reception as the GMO foods

FSMA State of the Union

• Examining the FDA’s latest FSMA enforcement through inspections
  • Is FSMA changing the way FDA inspects plants?
  • Do food companies see this as a continuing challenge or not really?
• Analyzing the impact of the new executive order limiting FDA’s guidance applicability
• Examining the impact of FSMA’s regulation prohibiting food processors and suppliers to contract away and shift food safety responsibility onto the other party
• Exploring the role of AI and its potential impact on food safety enforcement

Conference Adjourns

Continental Breakfast

Co-Chairs’ Remarks and Recap of Day One

Understanding the Impact of the Current Trade and Tariff Environment on the Food Industry

• What foods/ingredients are being targeted right now?
• How to start to reduce the cost of overhead as a food company?
• Practical tips for companies to insulate themselves from the current negative effects of tariffs
• Exploring industry efforts to seek exclusion opportunities or sourcing their ingredients from areas not affected by tariffs
• Understanding the long-term effect of the current trade and tariff environment

Examining the Latest Prop 65 Developments

• Addressing plaintiffs’ attorneys successful arguments with respect to glyphosate
• Assessing California Chamber of Commerce’s suit against OEHHA over acrylamide
• Analyzing the latest enforcement actions involving Prop 65
• Examining developments with synthetic colors and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
• Keeping the successful coffee example in mind, are there ways to keep ingredients off the Prop 65 list?

Morning Networking Coffee Break

FOCUS ON RECALLS

Examining Incidents that Give Rise to Reporting Obligation and Recalls

• When does the Reportable Food Registry reporting obligation arise?
• What events would prompt a food company to issue a recall?
  • What sort of interactions should a recalling company have with regulators?
  • How should parties within the supply chain address recall exposure among themselves? What contractual clauses are food companies using to transfer that risk?
• Addressing concerns around environmental positives and “Zone 1”
• Best practices for handling customer reports of positive tests
• Understanding the importance of and effectively handling CDC or public health agency investigations
• Exploring the use of block chain as a potential protection against recalls

Networking Lunch

Developing Effective Crisis Management Strategies that Work in Tandem with a Recall Plan

• Devising effective crisis management and communication plans
• Exploring cost-efficient ways for developing a message and addressing customers’ expectations
• Managing various regulatory and legal considerations during a crisis
• Working with outside experts and PR firms while maintaining attorney-client privilege

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Maintaining the Integrity of the Supply Chain by Working Effectively with Your Suppliers

• What do ingredients suppliers need to focus on to make sure their customers are comfortable with various suppliers’ assurances and certifications?
• What third-party certifications are among the most useful for ingredients suppliers to obtain in order to help their customers’ compliance efforts?
• How can food companies protect themselves against supplier fraud?

Afternoon Networking Break

Addressing the Transparency Challenges within the Global Supply Chain

In the era in which consumers demand transparency and ensuring that manufacturers are sourcing in socially responsible and sustainable ways, this session will explore challenges that food processors face given the global nature of the supply chains.

• Role of the 3rd-party certifications as it relates to supply chain transparency
• Examining legal issues surrounding 1st party certifications that some food companies develop
  • E.g., if a company develops its own non-GMO seal and uses less well-known 3rd party to help with development of that seal, does that pose a problem for a company?
• Best practices for assuring consumers about reliability and moral rectitude of supply chains
  • Sustainable sourcing and production
  • Child labor/forced labor
  • Animal welfare
  • Packaging and plastic reuse
• Examining the latest developments with respect to FDA’s enforcement of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program

Allergens Roundup: Liability Implications of Voluntary Disclosures and Recalls

• Addressing regulatory and liability implications of voluntary allergen disclosures
• Allergen controls and CGMP in manufacturing
• When does an undisclosed allergen trigger a recall?
• Emerging allergen regulatory and liability developments

Conference Ends