Pack Expo – Part 1: A Super-Sized Show

Because of its sheer size and the huge amount of equipment on display, Pack Expo International is one of the most exciting trade shows in the food packaging industry. According to the show organizer, this year McCormick Place in Chicago will bustle with 45,000 attendees, most of whom are buyers expecting to see the latest packaging, processing and integrated solutions. Pack Expo is the only place to see such a large variety of heavy production line equipment for products ranging from cereal, jugs of oil, to soda dispensers and loaves of bread. The show brings together solutions providers and packaging professionals who are in the market for the right equipment to support their needs. Anyone who’s been to Pack Expo knows how much it creates buzz about what’s new – and literally creates an even louder buzz on the show floor with all of the equipment in action! With over 1,800 suppliers on the show floor, you may find this link to the floor map helpful. In addition to seeing the many vendors, there are free education sessions to learn about newly available technologies, best practices, safety and sustainability, among other topics. This year I’m particularly excited to hear from our sponsored presenter, Anne Sherod from The Acheson Group, who will present “Verification: Can Your Food Safety Plan Meet the Rigors of FSMA’s Proposed Preventive Controls?” at the Food Safety Summit. The Acheson Group is a well-known strategic consulting firm for food and beverage companies and those providing technical support to the food industry. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and its evolving regulatory environment have shifted the focus of food safety from reaction to prevention. Integral to prevention are many forms of verification – objective evidence that your processes promote safe foods. The proposed Prevention Controls for human food and animal feed under FSMA elevate the importance of verification. Anne’s session will take a closer look at foreign material verification for metal detectors and X-ray machines – what’s required, steps to include in your food safety plan for compliance, and how to leverage verification as an early warning alert system to detect potential issues. Following her presentation, Anne will be available in our booth (S-2514) to discuss topics of interest to you. If you can’t make the show, or the presentation, you can still benefit from Anne’s expertise. Our team will be creating a white paper based on the talk and will make it available after the show. And if you are staying a day or two after the show, there are plenty of places to explore. The great thing about Chicago is that there’s something for everyone. Some of my favorites are taking the water taxi to Navy Pier, walking over to the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium. If you’ve never been to the top of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), that’s a must. If the weather allows, you can’t beat the Lincoln Park Zoo where admission is free. For evening entertainment, The Second City is legendary and so are the clubs on Rush Street. Keeping pace with regulatory requirements, innovative materials and the right inspection and detection solutions is more challenging than ever. Anne Sherod’s presentation is only one opportunity to gain food safety insights; there will be many other educational sessions that will pique your interest. Our next article will talk about other Pack Expo educational opportunities for product inspection professionals. And if you can’t be at the show, you can follow the activities and even access all our food safety educational materials via social media:

Get information and show updates: http://event3.thermoscientific.com/CAD-Events-PackExpo-0901-ES-JS?tabs=education

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In the meantime, feel free to download the Key Trends in Food Inspection/Detection infographic and see the top five trends we see happening in the packaged product inspection industry. Show Details: Pack Expo 2014 November 2, 2014 – November 5, 2014 Booth #S-2514 McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois USA 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60616