Smithers Rapra's second Food Contact Polymers conference is a forum to discuss the latest research and developments in food contact grades of materials in compliance with harmonised Eurpoean legislation, national standards and market demands. The worldwide food contact polymers market has seen enormous change in recent years, a trend in part due to the shifting regulatory landscape. With these challenges in mind, this Smithers Rapra conference brings together the partners from the food processing and packaging supply chain to learn about new materials and innovations in food manufactering processes and packaging, materials selection, testing and the all important legislation applicable to all types of food contact materials.
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Dr. Chaudhry is a Principal Research Scientist at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) of the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is also a member of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS), and a Visiting Professor at the University of Chester. Dr. Chaudhry is a Chemist and Biochemical Toxicologist by training. He currently leads a team of scientists at Fera who are undertaking research into the safety of nanomaterials to human health and the environment in a variety of products and applications, including food and food packaging. Dr. Chaudhry has published a number of research papers, review articles, and study reports on a range of safety and regulatory aspects of nanotechnologies. Dr. Laurence CastleDr. Castle is a Principal Scientist in the Contaminants and Authenticity group at Fera. He and his co-workers have published more than 150 refereed journal papers dealing with chemical analysis of food additives and contaminants. Dr. Castle is an independent member of the CEF panel (contact materials, enzymes and flavourings) of the European Food Safety Authority and he was a member of the predecessor panel and working groups since 1996. He also has extensive experience working in other national and international risk assessment and standardisation groups including JECFA, WHO, DG-SANCO, CEN. CoE etc.Dr. Richard WatkinsDr. Watkins is Head of Environmental Risk Programme at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera). He leads a number of scientific teams that provide research and consultancy in risk management systems to assess and mitigate against the risks posed by conventional and emergent environmental contaminants (including nanomaterials). Dr. Watkins is author for over 40 peer-reviewed articles including two recent book chapters on food contaminants and the regulation for nanomaterialsThe Food and Environment Research Agency (www.defra.gov.uk/fera)The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) is an executive agency of the UK government's Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Fera was launched in April 2009 by a merger of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), the UK Government Decontamination Service (GDS), the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI), Plant Varieties and Seeds Division (PVS) and Plant Health Division (PHD). Fera has a staff of around 850 and its main laboratory complex is just outside York, United Kingdom, from where it provides research, services and policy advice through its food, farming and environmental research programmes.
