CIEH Food Safety Conference

Professor Chris Elliott, PhD, FRSC, FRSB, MRIA, OBE, Founder, Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University, Belfast. Chris is the founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast and is a Honorary Professor there now. He is also Professor of Food Security at Thamassat University in Thailand. He has published around 600 peer-reviewed articles on the detection and control of agriculture, food, and environmental-related contaminants. Chris led the independent review of Britain’s food system following the 2013 horsemeat scandal and now acts as a scientific advisor for a range of United Nations Agencies, governments, and industries on a range of food security topics. Over the years Chris has developed a high level network of collaborators across Europe, the United States , the Middle East and Asia. He is a recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Royal Society of Biology. Chris has received numerous prizes and awards for his work such as the Royal Society of Chemistry Theophilus Redwood Prize and an OBE in 2017. He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2020 and became Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in 2021 and Honorary President of the Society of Food Hygiene and Technology in 2023.

Professor Elizabeth Redmond, Professor of Food Safety, Health and Behaviour and Research Group Lead at the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales. With more than 29 years of engagement, Elizabeth’s extensive food safety research experience and key academic interests / specialisms include determination of consumers’ cognitive (knowledge, attitudes, risk perceptions and self-reported practices), behavioural, microbiological and time/temperature profiling data to understand and evaluate food safety risks. She has made recommendations, as well as developed / evaluated highly focused food safety education/communication materials and targeted interventions, for consumer groups and businesses in food-service and manufacturing sectors. Elizabeth has been the Principal Investigator, Director of Studies, Supervisor and active contributor for numerous large and small, mixed methods and multi-disciplinary food safety research projects for organisations such as the UK Food Standards Agency, The Welsh Government and SafeFood. She has worked with national and international academic collaborators, healthcare providers and food manufacturing businesses and has authored more than 63 peer-reviewed publications and actively disseminated research in more than 240 conference contributions (1996-2025). Elizabeth has secured >£1.2million collaborative research funding during her career and has a proven track record of successful postgraduate supervision, including six PhD completions. She currently supports four PhD and Professional Doctorate projects and has managed and implemented >27 multidisciplinary research studies.

Laura Hewitt, Quality and Compliance Manager at a leading UK Food and Drink Manufacturer, Professional Doctorate Scholar at ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales. Laura Hewitt has over 12 years of technical experience with the food and drink manufacturing industry. This experience has covered bakery, ready-to-eat foods and beverage manufacturing and includes high risk and low risk manufacturing. She has extensive food safety management experience - this includes vast experience of auditing food safety management systems, processes and procedures and developing and implementing robust food safety and quality management systems. Her research interests include the practical application of food safety and quality culture improvement tools in the food and drink manufacturing industry having previously developed a food safety culture measurement and improvement plan for her current company.

Tim Lang, Professor Emeritus of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, School of Health Sciences, University of London. Tim Lang is Professor Emeritus of Food Policy at City St George’s, University of London. After hill farming in Lancashire in the 1970s, he worked on food policy across health, environment, politics and culture. He set up and directed the Centre for Food Policy in 1994, a prime source of research and education on food system dynamics. Since Brexit, his focus has been the UK, writing Feeding Britain (Pelican 2021). His current attention is on the state of civil food resilience. His Just in Case report was published by the UK’s National Preparedness Commission in February 2025.

Martin D’Agostino, Ph.D, MRSB, FIFST

Dr Martin D’Agostino is a highly experienced Food Virologist with over 35 years of expertise in laboratory-based research, specialising in the transmission, detection, and prevention of foodborne viruses within food supply chains. As Director of ViroSafety Ltd, Martin provides bespoke training, crisis management and consultancy services, working closely with clients across the food industry, government agencies, and academic institutions.

Previously, Martin served as Principal Virologist at Campden BRI, where he established the UK's first UKAS-accredited laboratory for the detection of norovirus and Hepatitis A virus in fresh and frozen produce. He has led significant national and international research projects, contributes extensively to scientific publications, and plays a key role as an expert advisor on ISO/CEN committees. Martin is a member of the Royal Society of Biology and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

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The British Lion is the UK’s most successful food safety scheme and only Lion marked eggs are approved by the Food Standards Agency to be eaten runny by pregnant women, the elderly and children. All eggs that carry the British Lion mark have been produced under the stringent requirements of the British Lion Code of Practice which ensures the highest standards of food safety. The code covers the entire production chain and ensures strict food safety controls including the guarantee that all hens are vaccinated against Salmonella and a ‘passport’ system ensuring that all hens, eggs and feed are fully traceable.