September 27 - 28, 2023
Washington Marriott Georgetown
Dr. Paul Honigfort is the Director of the Division of Food Contact Substances, Office of Food Additive Safety, which is part of the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). The Division of Food Contact Substances is the segment of the US Government responsible for all regulatory actions for all materials that contact food, including food packaging.
Dr. Honigfort has over 18 years of experience with food contact materials and food additive regulations. As Director of the Division of Food Contact Substances, Dr. Honigfort oversees all US Government regulatory matters pertaining to food packaging. Dr. Honigfort is also the United States Delegate to the Codex Committee on Food Additives, which formulates international standards on the safe use and fair trade of food additives. Prior to his time at FDA, Dr. Honigfort worked for GE Plastics as an Advanced Materials Developer specializing in engineering thermoplastics and food packaging materials. Dr. Honigfort received his doctorate in polymer science in 2000 from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA.
Tom Neltner is the Environmental Defense Fund’s Senior Director for Safer Chemicals. He and his colleagues lead EDF’s efforts to remove or minimize hazardous chemicals from products and the marketplace through cross-cutting policy initiatives. His primary focus is on food additive safety and reducing exposure to lead in our homes and communities. He is a chemical engineer and attorney with experience in chemical safety issues in the workplace, the environment, the home, consumer products, and food.
Areas of Focus: Product Safety, Private Brands, Quality and Compliance, Professional Development of Team, Servant Leadership, Strategic Planning, Negotiations, Global Sourcing
A results-driven and accomplished professional with progressive experience in maintaining product safety, process improvement, professional development, enforcing regulatory compliance, and strategic planning. Develops and implements tools to merge regulatory compliance with business needs securing long-term profitability.
Bio coming soon!
Tina Robertson is a Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, Food Contact Materials at knoell USA LLC, based out of Chicago. She provides regulatory support and to ensure compliance of food contact materials, reviews product compositions in accordance with global regulations, and prepares registration dossiers of food contact materials (FCM) in USA, EU, and Asia. She has a law degree from the University of Alabama, School of Law and is a member of the Illinois state bar. She has a background in assessing and maintaining regulatory compliance for the food contact consumer goods industry in a variety of markets including US and EU as well as years of industry experience in a compliance role for food contact packaging ranging from plastic dairy closures to infant formula lids.
For the past 6 years, Dustin Schadt has worked with Stora Enso as the Director of Business Development and Key Account Manager for Specialty Papers and Packaging Materials in North America. His key objective is to build partnerships with Retailers, Brand Owners, and Converters who have specific Objectives to increase the effectiveness of their Paper and Packaging. Though Quality, Service, and Logistics are all key objectives for these companies, Dustin focuses on clients whose primary goal is to find Sustainable Packaging Solutions. Bringing 18 years of experience from the Folding Carton Industry, he ties in many different components of the supply chain in order to find innovative solutions and bring value to the changing market. When he’s not talking about micro fibers, blank paper, or empty boxes, Dustin likes to travel with his family, creating many adventures along the way. Between his love for family and love for paper, there’s never a moment to rest.
Dr. Jason Schmidt is currently the Senior Director of Regulatory affairs at Danimer Scientific, focusing primarily on global food-contact matters and related advocacy. Jason obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara and began his career in consumer product and biotech Research and Development, gradually shifting to a full-time regulatory role. Jason has worked almost exclusively in the food-contact area for the past 12 years. Prior to joining Danimer, Jason worked for DuPont Industrial Biosciences where he served as the Global Food-contact Manager for Biomaterials. Prior to his work at DuPont, Jason was a Senior Staff Scientist at Keller and Heckman LLP where he assisted clients with various regulatory matters, including work on more than forty FDA food-contact notifications.
Ron Osborn is currently a Principal Scientist for the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, at their Global Innovation Center in Chicago, IL. He is a member of the Scientific and Regulatory Affairs group and is primarily responsible for the Safety and Regulatory Compliance assessments of food contact materials. Additional responsibilities include safety evaluations of the seasonal add-on items marketed with Wrigley products and leading the development of Wrigley’s Packaging Compliance Management System. Prior to his current position, Ron had a successful 20 year career in the analytical laboratory.
Stephen Klump is the Global Manager, Food Contact Regulatory Compliance at PPG Industries in the Product Stewardship Department. This role currently focuses on food contact applications for PPG’s Kitchen & Industrial Bakeware division.
Dr. Klump has more than 16 years’ experience in the food contact material safety and compliance space. Prior to PPG, Dr. Klump got his start in packaging food safety with a three year assignment at Nestlé’s Research Center in Lausanne Switzerland. There, he developed analytical testing methods for packaging chemical migrants. Subsequently, Dr. Klump held regional and global responsibilities in the packaging safety and compliance program at Nestlé.
Dr. Klump earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Ohio State University in the USA. Before this, he earned an MS in Inorganic Chemistry from St. Louis University. Stephen started his professional career with BASF in the automotive coatings division. Currently, Dr. Klump lives and works in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
Biography coming soon.
A member of the FoodChain ID Executive Leadership Team, Kevin is an experienced regulatory attorney who has worked and consulted in the food and consumer products space for 25 years. He advises some of the world’s largest manufacturers on food additive, food contact and supply chain compliance challenges. He has headed international consulting projects on four continents over two decades and is responsible for the content of FoodChain ID’s regulatory compliance products. Prior to FoodChain ID’s acquisition of Decernis (of which Kevin was a founder), he was responsible for regulatory content and was Executive Director of the global advisory services team.
Alistair manages the Food Packaging Safety Section within Smithers. This involves advising clients on the safety legislation which applies to food packaging in a wide range of different countries throughout the world and coordinating work programmes to ensure that clients' products meet these requirements. His expertise spans all the EU countries, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Russia and all the South American countries.
Alistair graduated with a degree and PhD in Chemistry from Birmingham University. After working for BP and the Department of Health, he joined Smithers in 1994, taking up his current position in 1995.
