“Beyond the Basics” Conference Recap

Friday, February 24, 2023 via Zoom

The fourth Beyond the Basics conference was held February 24th, via Zoom. This year’s theme was “Never Stop Exploring.” Due to weather concerns, we were forced to move the Conference from in person to virtual. This is not the first time we have contended with a snowstorm prior to this event, but it is the first time there was not a good level of comfort that we would be able to drive safely by Friday. Luckily, if we learned nothing else during Covid, we learned how to Zoom! A great crowd of around 70 people logged on to participate.

Our first speaker of the day was Ali Diley, MS, RD who works as a Regulatory Labeling Specialist with General Mills. Her presentation was “The Latest in Food Labeling”. The focus for her talk came from three areas: Nutrition Label Regulation (NLR), Allergen Labeling and “What’s Coming Next” with nutrition labeling.

The second speaker was Amy Saupe, MPH and epidemiologist with the MN Department of Health (MDH) talking on “Updates in Foodborne Disease Epidemiology” and a deep dive into Norovirus.

The third speaker was Ann Lovcik, Foodservice Energy Efficiency Consultant with CenterPoint Energy who discussed “Energy Efficiency on Demand,” sharing highlights from the 2023 NAFEM show.

Our final speaker was Dr. Jody Janati, PhD who spoke on “Professional Communication.” She posed the questions: “How do you keep it together when people are giving you a hard time? How do you stay professional?” Most conflict is both danger and opportunity. Dr Janati closed out the day with a fast-paced and invigorating talk.