The North American Food Safety & Quality Series is a premier gathering of industry leaders, food safety executives, and experts dedicated to exploring innovative strategies, emerging trends, and best practices in the dynamic world of food regulations.
NAFS gathers Chief Food Safety Officers, Chief Quality Officers, Heads, VPs, and Directors of FSQ, QA/QC, HSE, Compliance, Regulatory Affairs, Food Technology, Risk Management, and Operations to share insights, foster innovation, and build invaluable connections. Dive into a thoughtfully curated environment that brings together thought leaders, allowing you to explore new ideas and engage in meaningful discussions. Join the conversation at NAFS and be part of a community dedicated to pushing the limits of food quality success.
Year after year, we bring to the stage today's thought leaders and innovators
Frank Yiannas is a renowned food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, professor, past president of the International Association of Food Protection, and advocate for consumers.
Most recently, he served under two different administrations as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a position he held from 2018 to 2023, after spending 30 years in leadership roles with two industry
giants: Walmart and the Walt Disney Company.
After retiring from the FDA, Yiannas founded Smarter FY Solutions to help organizations address critical food safety and supply chain challenges. He also advises several prestigious companies, offering consultancy services to modernize compliance strategies and ensure clients meet regulatory requirements and industry standards.
Throughout his career, Frank has been recognized for his role in strengthening food safety standards in new and innovative ways, as well as building effective food safety management systems based on modern, science-based, and tech-enabled prevention principles.
Frank Yiannas
Former Deputy Commissioner, Food Policy & Response
FDA
As the Vice President of Food Safety and Quality Assurance for Sysco Corporation, Charles Leftwich serves the world’s largest foodservice distributor. In this role he supports Sysco’s Purpose of “Connecting the World to Share Food and Care for One Another” by establishing food safety, product quality, sustainability, and regulatory compliance strategies across the Sysco enterprise. To implement these strategies, Charles lead a team of talented food safety professionals across Sysco’s broadline distribution services, specialty manufacturing locations, and Sysco’s industry leading private label brand program which is renowned for its commitment to the highest product quality and food safety standards.
Charles is a highly-experienced professional in the food safety, quality assurance and regulatory field with expertise in the harvest, manufacturing, distribution, and foodservice industries. I have served on various industry associations’ boards of directors, committees and working groups. Charles has held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his career and prior to Sysco, led teams in Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Operations and Environmental Health and Safety at Cargill Meat Solutions and Kane Beef. Charles graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science, and a Master of Business Administration from West Texas A&M University.
Charles Leftwich
Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance
Sysco
Mahir is a Master in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and currently is a Vice President at PepsiCo leading Global FSQA (Food Safety and Quality Assurance) Organization based in New York.
Mahir has four years of work experience in Unilever, India and then 28+ years of experience with PepsiCo. He has worked in Supply chain operations, EHS (Environment , Health and Safety) , R&D, Digitization and most of all in Food Safety and Quality Assurance across three continents – India, Dubai and USA. He is currently responsible for formulating and implementing strategic plans for all Food Safety and Quality initiatives across the entire product portfolio ( Snacks, beverages, Dairy, Bread and meat snacks in over 1300 company-owned and third-party manufacturing sites around the globe.
With deep-rooted knowledge across product categories and differing regulatory and cultural environments, he plays a pivotal role in establishing rigorous standards and systems. He has shared countless lessons learned during his career. His innovative approaches ensure that PepsiCo consistently delivers products that not only meet stringent safety guidelines but also resonate with consumer expectations and satisfaction. Under Mahir’s guidance, the company’s commitment to food safety, quality assurance, compliance, and consumer trust remains unparalleled.
Mahir Bhagia
Chief Food Safety & Quality Assurance Officer
PepsiCo
Sara Mortimore is the former Vice President and Global Subject Matter Expert for Food Safety at Walmart Inc. In this role, Sara was responsible for the global development and oversight of all Food Safety programs and initiatives for the company’s more than 10,500 stores, manufacturing facilities, distribution, and fulfilment centers. A proud accomplishment was leading the team to be awarded the IAFP Black Pearl Award in 2024.
Prior to joining Walmart in May 2019, Sara held the position of Vice President of Product Safety, Quality and Regulatory Affairs with enterprise-wide responsibility at Land O’Lakes, Inc. In this capacity, she covered both human and animal foods and supported non-profit international development work.
Sara began her career with Glaxo SmithKline as a Research Technologist in Research & Development. In 1989, she joined Grand Metropolitan Foods, which later became Pillsbury and was subsequently incorporated by General Mills Inc. Here she led food safety, quality, and regulatory teams throughout international markets, including support of brands such as Haagen Dazs, Wanchai Ferry, Old El Paso, and Green Giant.
She is the co-author of several successful books, chapters and papers on HACCP and food safety management. Sara has served on the board of trustees for the Royal Society of Public Health, for the BRC International Advisory Board, and is a past member of the Global Food Safety Initiative Steering Committee.
Sara Mortimore
Former VP Global Food Safety Compliance
Walmart
Liz Duffy is a seasoned compliance and food safety leader with more than 20 years of experience leading teams to develop and implement comprehensive compliance programs that prioritize food safety and ethical business practices.
Liz began her career at Walmart in 2006 and now serves as Vice President, Global Food Safety & Compliance for the Fortune 1 retailer. In this role, Liz leads the team that supports Walmart’s approach that enables an end-to-end food safety and compliance program and culture. Liz recently transitioned from her previous role as Vice President, Global Omnichannel and eCommerce Compliance at Walmart, where she was responsible for compliance strategy, controls, and continuous improvement processes for the company’s eCommerce, Walmart Business, and Online Pickup and Delivery business offerings.
Liz’s passion lies with food safety, having started her career at Walmart as a Food Safety Manager for Walmart U.S. Stores and Sam’s Clubs. Throughout her nearly two-decade tenure at Walmart, Liz served in a wide variety of compliance roles supporting food safety program development, recall execution, store operations, eCommerce, and omnichannel compliance program acceleration.
Prior to joining Walmart, Liz worked at Cargill Value Added Meats where she supported role in Quality Assurance at a poultry processing facility in Arkansas.
A graduate from the University of Arkansas, Liz holds a Bachelor of Science and an MBA with a focus on Leadership and Ethics. Liz and her family reside in Northwest Arkansas. On the weekends you can find her spending time with her family and her horse.
Liz Duffy
Vice President, Global Food Safety & Compliance
Walmart
Rachel Teoh is a veteran of a food safety professional. She has built loyal and trusted partnerships within the Company, customers, and regulatory agencies; and implemented performance-driven culture for food safety compliance, quality & specification conformance, as well as a robust vendor & coman compliance program for both domestic and international market.
In her current role at CP Foods North America., Rachel work with a team of talented food safety professional to drive daily Food safety and regulatory compliance for 4 facilities within the United States. These facilities produce products regulated under both USDA & FDA, and supply to 5 business channel which include our own brands, private label, Co-manufacturing customers, food service & QSR, and international market.
She also expanded my role in the new business development segment focus on import & export opportunity.
Throughout her tenure in the world of food safety, she:
➤ Led and provided critical support to maintain the Company’s World Class’s food safety standard to drive our vision as the “#1 US frozen food manufacturer in the North America”. All 4 plant locations achieved “Excellent” score in SQF audits in 2022. One of the 4 manufacturing achieve “Excellent” rating 3 years in a roll.
➤ Implemented multi-layer food safety controls to reduce risk of a recall and that help saving of millions of dollars by driving a strong and consistent food safety culture across all manufacturing facilities that produce for RTE and NRTE foods. We want to be the “Kitchen of the World” and are committed to deliver “Safe and highly nutritious foods” to the general public.
➤ Implemented specialty claim standard protocols that generate many new business opportunities for niche market. Specialty claims include Kosher, halal, vegan, Gluten Free, Organic and non-GMO certification.
➤ Led and guided a team of Sanitation professional to achieve Sanitation excellency, efficiency and effectiveness.
➤ Led and guided continuous improvement that drives yield improvement, waste reduction, higher productivity, less downtime, and consistent food safety and quality excellency.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
Strategic Direction
Project Management
Executive Leadership
Continuous Improvement – 6- sigma & Lean Manufacturing
Vendor Management / FSVP for domestic and international vendor compliance program
Food Safety & Quality Assurance
Regulatory and Label Compliance
Import & Export compliance
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Product/Process Strategy & Product Development
*Leader that walk the talks*
Rachel Teoh
Head of Global Food Safety and Regulatory
Beyond Meat
Specialties: 20+ years of diverse experience in food regulations, food quality, food microbiology, ingredient and nutrition labeling, food safety, highly skilled in project management, communication and organization. Driving results through others.
• Executive with global quality and food safety experience
• Cross-functional leader with deep experience in leading teams through plant startups, corporate transitions and consolidations while driving continuous improvement initiatives
• Risk Management – Led compliance team to protect company’s and customer’s interest and value by understanding compliance, identifying risk, and clarifying potential consequences.
• Drove leadership through crisis management to present a thorough and well-thought-out pragmatic solutions.
• Policy Development – Developed, defined, and clarified corporate recall and withdrawal policy to create sustainable program using newly implemented ERP program. Implemented the policy throughout the supply chain to protect the brands of major retail and food service customers.
• Product Innovation – Advised as a key member of the product development team on compliance issues for the Italian cheese-based product platform to ensure safety in product development and manufacturing.
Amandeep Dhillon
Vice President of Food Safety and Quality
Organic Valley
Laurie A. Gerbers is the VP of Food Safety and Quality, Health and Human Safety, Environment, and Sustainability at Hearthside Food Solutions. Laurie is passionate about organizational transformation, utilizing risk and risk reduction to drive food safety and operational excellence. With over 20 years of experience, she leads food safety and people safety at Hearthside Foods, emphasizing the core values of integrity, trust, and transparency.
Laurie Gerbers
Vice President of Food Safety, Quality, and HSE
Hearthside Food Solutions
The North American Food Safety & Quality Series 2024 gathered top food safety leaders to share new ideas and collaborate on solutions that inspired a collective vision for change, shaping the future of the industry.
Head of North America Quality, Lipton Teas & Infusions
Food Safety Quality Assurance Director, PepsiCo
Quality Manager, CP Kelco
Operations & QA Manager, Rustic Bakery
Interim Vice President, Quality & Food Safety North America, Mars
Director of Food Safety & Quality, Built
Global Quality and Food Safety Director, Whole Earth Brands
Sr. Director of FSQA, Dawn Foods
Corporate VP of Food Safety and Quality, Bellisio Foods Inc.
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By completing and submitting this form, you agree to receive marketing emails from Executive Platforms Inc. You can opt-out at any time by utilizing the unsubscribe link provided at the bottom of each email. All data collected will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.