CIEH Safe Food Conference

Alessandra Costigliola (Alex) is Head of Food Regulation and Networks at Coeliac UK and has more than 20 years’ experience in food regulation, scientific affairs and stakeholder engagement across industry, trade associations and the charity sector. Her expertise spans food labelling, allergen management, gluten free standards, food safety and UK, EU and international food legislation. She works with regulators, industry, scientists and professional bodies to help translate complex regulatory and scientific issues into practical approaches. Alex also contributes to international policy discussions through Codex Alimentarius, with a particular focus on precautionary allergen labelling and the implications for people with coeliac disease.

Andrew Wilson, Agriculture and Food Safety Expert, Cultivate. Andrew is a seasoned agriculture and food safety expert with over 15 years of leadership experience in Australian food safety regulatory agencies. Specializing in sustainable food safety practices for domestic and export markets, he combines practical expertise with a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology to enhance compliance across supply chains.

Andrew’s approach emphasizes proactive risk management and fostering a strong food safety culture. His work spans all agricultural commodity groups, where he has driven improvements in operational systems and empowered regulatory agencies to focus on culture-driven behaviours, risk identification, and prevention strategies.

A passionate advocate for engagement and data-driven solutions, Andrew is dedicated to advancing transparent, impactful food safety regulations that adapt to global demands. Off-duty, he enjoys family time, crafting in his workshop, or exploring trails on his mountain bike.

Bruce Friedrich is founder & president of the Good Food Institute, a global science nonprofit with affiliates in the US, India, Israel, Brazil, APAC, and Europe. Climate charity evaluator Giving Green has selected GFI as a top climate charity for impact every year for the past five years. 

Nature featured Bruce’s new book Meat as one of its five "best science picks,” and Publishers Weekly included Meat on its list of the 10 best new releases in science. Foreign Policy ran an excerpt from the book, and it has been covered favourably by The Atlantic, Guardian, Financial Times, Washington Post, and PBS News Hour. The book has earned endorsements from Nobel Laureate in economics Michael Kremer, primatologist Jane Goodall, former UNFCCC head Christiana Figueres, The Ministry for the Future author Kim Stanley Robinson, SpaceX board member Steve Jurvetson, and more. 

Bruce writes the Substack newsletter Meat Matters.

Claire Lucas, Food Safety Manager, ISS. Claire Lucas MSc BSc PG (Dip) CEnvH. Claire is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and Food Safety Manager at ISS Facility Services, with over 25 years’ experience across food safety and standards, public health, health and safety, and infectious disease control. A former Local Authority regulator, Claire brings experience in managing food safety risks and achieving compliance. Previously, whilst working at Center Parcs UK & Ireland, she led food safety and allergen management across 130 retail and catering outlets. Claire’s current role focuses on food safety leadership, managing a team of food safety consultants,  audit and incident management, coaching teams and strengthening allergen controls across multi-site operations in the education, healthcare, government and workplace settings. Claire has also worked as a third party auditor for NSF and has been part of the food safety team for Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd since 2019.

Daniella Rotimi, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Daniella Rotimi is a Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, working across a range of environmental health policy areas, with a particular focus on food safety since joining the organisation. Prior to CIEH, Daniella worked at Allergy UK, focusing on allergy policy and public affairs, including work to strengthen protections for people living with allergies. Her experience includes policy development, parliamentary engagement and stakeholder relations, with a particular interest in public health. 

Jim Cathcart, Policy Director, UKHospitality. Jim joined UKHospitality as Policy Director in April 2018. His role is to identify and influence public policy impacting the sector across a wide range of areas. This includes current work around digital platforms, copyright and competition, tourism, food safety, nutrition and health policy. Jim has many years’ experience in representing business interests to the UK Government, Welsh and Scottish Governments, local authorities and the European Parliament.

Dr Heidi Gough, Independent Food Safety and Quality Consultant, Cultivate. Heidi Gough, Ph.D. is an independent food safety consultant and a Core Team Member at Cultivate SA. She has worked within the food industry for 25 years across food categories and organisations both large and small. Her experience in the food industry has driven her passion for making the complicated simple to apply within real-world settings.

Dr Preeti Dhuria, Senior Research Fellow, University of Southampton. Preeti is a registered public health nutritionist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton, with over 15 years’ experience in research, intervention implementation and evaluation in retail food environments. Since 2020, she has worked with local authority officers across England to explore the implementation and enforcement of food promotion and placement regulations. Her wider research examines how the availability, accessibility and visibility of healthier food can support healthier choices. She combines qualitative research with systems approaches to understand the perspectives of those involved in and affected by food policy, informing its development and implementation. She is particularly interested in ensuring that the experiences of underrepresented citizens and small business owners inform policy discussions.

Related research

Simon Ashwin, Lead Investigator, National Food Crime Unit. Simon is currently a Senior Investigator with the National food Crime unit which is part of the Food Standards Agency. Previously he served 30 years in the Metropolitan Police and retired as a Detective Chief Inspector on the Homicide and Major Crime command leading on murder investigations and other major crime

Sterling Crew, Public Health Advocate. Sterling is a food safety advocate with 40 years’ experience working in food safety, security, authenticity and global supply chain governance. He is a trustee of CIEH and sits on the CIEH Food Advisory Panel. He also chairs The Food Authenticity Network, and is Immediate Past President of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. And has recently joined the board of the Saudis Food and Drink Administration. Sterling holds a number of food related board positions, and acts as an independent scientific and regulatory advisor. Sterling started his career in government before a successful track history in retail, manufacturing and the branded world. His experience as a regulator, retailer, brand owner and food manufacturer has given him a unique perspective on the challenges of the global food supply system.