The future of food safety and food defense will be the focus of an interactive session with the federal government’s top dairy products regulator at IDFA’s Policy and Politics Conference, September 19-21 in Washington, D.C.

Michael Taylor was named deputy commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration in January 2010. He is the first to hold the position, which was created along with a new Office of Foods in August 2009.

Taylor leads FDA's efforts to develop and carry out a prevention-based strategy for food safety, plan for new food safety legislation and ensure that food labels contain clear and accurate information on nutrition. He will share his vision for keeping the U.S. food supply safe and participate in a question-and-answer session with conference attendees.

Taylor has served in numerous high-level positions at FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as a research professor in the academic community and on several National Academy of Sciences expert committees studying food-related issues. Read more here.

"The Policy & Politics Conference also will give participants the opportunity to hear directly from some of the most powerful leaders in Congress on issues that will shape our future," said Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO. "In the lead-up to one of the most important elections of our time, you won’t want to miss these discussions on what will shape the agenda and hear election predictions."

Registration is open and more conference details are available here.

Sponsorship opportunities for the Policy & Politics Conference also are available. Contact Robin Cornelison, IDFA trade show director, at rcornelison@idfa.org or (202) 220-3542 for information.