More than 200 international delegates will attend the 11th International Conference on Molluscan Shellfish Safety (ICMSS) from Sunday 14 to Thursday 18 May 2017 at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Convened by Ireland’s Marine Institute, the ICMSS is the only international conference that focuses specifically on molluscan shellfish safety, which has previously been hosted in New Zealand, Canada, France, Spain, Australia, USA, and Chile.

The event brings together food safety professionals, scientists, regulators and industry experts to exchange ideas, information and the latest research findings, and also offers the opportunity for delegates to review the current and future prospects in molluscan shellfish safety.

Dr Peter Heffernan CEO of the Marine Institute said, “The ICMSS encourages delegates to work collaboratively to determine best practices, explore new advancements and discuss regulations and standards in the area of shellfish safety,” Dr Heffernan said.

“Ireland has a distinguished track record in the area of molluscan shellfish safety, in developing state- of-the-art monitoring protocols, forecasting tools and a variety of cutting-edge research activities. The ICMSS will help to further increase our knowledge and showcase our commitment to shellfish safety.”

The keynote speaker for ICMSS is public health specialist Dorothy-Jean McCoubrey, who has more than 30 years of experience in regulatory roles in New Zealand. Ms McCoubrey said the conference gathers together the world’s best experts to achieve two important goals.

“The first goal is to dream big with our visionary food safety research. The second is to translate this imaginative foresight into practical and useful material that has the potential to benefit all of society,” Ms McCoubrey said.

Other speakers include Jim Oliver Bonnie Cone Distinguished Professor and Professor of Microbiology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte (USA) and Andrew Turner Principle Chemist at Cefas Weymouth Food Safety Group (UK).

There will also be presentations from Donald Anderson from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (USA), Jan Vinjé from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), Ana Gago-Martinez from the EU Reference Laboratory for Marine Biontoxins (Spain), Philipp Hess from Nantes University (France) and Robert Atmar from the Baylor College of Medicine (USA).

In addition, the ICMSS will include a series of workshops on Friday 19 May that explore new technologies and regulatory matters in food safety.

The international conference is hosted by the Marine Institute in association with Bord Iascaigh Mhara, The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, The Irish Shellfish Association and NUI Galway.