This interactive workshop is designed to help food safety and quality professionals assess and strengthen their foreign material prevention programs.

Explore the basics of controlling Listeria monocytogenes in meat and poultry processing environments. This course covers key topics related to Listeria, including sanitation, facility design, sampling, and environmental monitoring practices used to address the pathogen within processing facilities. 

The Meat Industry Hall of Fame brings together honorees, industry leaders and invited guests for an elevated evening celebrating leadership, service, and lasting contributions to the meat and poultry industry.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging has quickly moved from an emerging policy issue to a business reality for meat and poultry companies. As states implement new packaging EPR programs, processors face practical questions: Who counts as the “producer”? Which packaging is covered? What data must be collected and reported? How will fees be determined? And how could EPR affect packaging decisions, supplier relationships, food safety, operations, and cost?

This introductory session will bring together three perspectives to help meat and poultry companies understand both the fundamentals of EPR and what implementation looks like in practice.

Attendees will hear from an EPR implementation expert who will explain how these programs work and the evolving state landscape; a protein packaging expert who will address the unique challenges associated with meat and poultry packaging, including recyclability, product protection, food safety, and packaging performance; and a meat processor who will share the practical realities of preparing for EPR within a complex organization.

Together, the speakers will move beyond the regulatory basics to identify the questions companies should be asking now—about their packaging portfolios, data, suppliers, internal responsibilities, and future packaging decisions.

Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of EPR, why it matters specifically to the meat and poultry industry, and steps their organizations can take now to prepare as implementation expands across the United States.

As USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service expectations remain part of the operating environment for meat and poultry processors, organizations continue to balance food safety, product quality, inspection readiness, and rapid response to supply chain disruptions. From HACCP verification and Sanitation SOP documentation to recall procedures, supplier interruptions, and potential adulteration or misbranding events, organizations need greater visibility across their operations to protect business continuity and customer trust. 
This session will explore how leading meat and poultry companies are building operational resilience through end-to-end traceability, real-time visibility, and integrated quality management. Drawing on industry best practices, attendees will learn how digital technologies and connected operational data can help identify risks sooner, support HACCP and sanitation verification, strengthen recall readiness, improve supplier oversight, and enable faster, more confident decision-making across the value chain. 

Participants will gain practical insights into building a more agile, resilient operation that maintains continuity during disruptions while meeting baseline expectations for inspected meat and poultry establishments. Whether responding to an agency inquiry, managing a supply shortage, documenting corrective actions, or executing a targeted recall, organizations that can quickly access accurate information and connect processes across production, quality, sanitation, inventory, and supply chain functions are better positioned to reduce risk and protect profitability. 

Proper sanitation is the cornerstone of food safety in meat and poultry processing. This free educational session, hosted by the Meat Institute, offers a practical overview of sanitation fundamentals—ideal for newcomers or anyone looking to reinforce their understanding of best practices.

Participants will learn the core principles of effective cleaning and sanitizing, why sanitation matters for regulatory compliance and public health, and how a strong sanitation program supports product quality, worker safety, and operational success. Whether you're on the floor or in a support role, this session will help you better understand how sanitation contributes to a safe, efficient, and responsible food system.

No one builds a successful career alone. While having a mentor can provide valuable guidance, the most effective professional networks often include a diverse group of people who play different roles in your career journey—from mentors and sponsors to coaches, advocates, peers, and connectors.

In this interactive session, participants will explore how to intentionally build their own “personal board of directors”—a network of trusted individuals who can provide perspective, challenge assumptions, open doors, advocate for opportunities, and help navigate career transitions. Panelists will share real-world experiences about how these relationships developed, what made them effective, and how they evolved over time.

Attendees will learn how to identify the relationships they need at different career stages, find potential mentors and sponsors inside and outside their organizations, and move beyond making connections to building meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of who is currently in their professional circle, who may be missing, and how to intentionally build relationships that support both their immediate goals and long-term career growth.

As meat and poultry processors connect production equipment, plant-floor controls, data systems, and enterprise networks, cybersecurity is no longer just an IT concern—it is a shared operational responsibility. This session explores how the convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) is changing customer expectations, risk management, and the design of connected processing solutions.

The session will translate cybersecurity concepts into practical actions suppliers can take before, during, and after equipment deployment. The discussion will cover secure remote access, software and firmware update practices, visibility into connected assets, segmentation between plant-floor systems and business networks, incident preparedness, and the information processors increasingly need from suppliers to support resilient operations.

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how supplier decisions can reduce cyber risk across the protein supply chain, support safer and more reliable operations, and strengthen trust with customers as automation, AI-enabled systems, and connected equipment become more central to processing environments.