RFA Technical Webcasts

 

The RFA hosts quarterly Technical Webcasts on timely food safety and regulatory topics affecting
the prepared foods industry. The Webcasts are live, interactive events that you can join from your office!

See below for details on the latest Technical Webcast.

RFA Members can access slide presentations from past Technical Webcasts at anytime in the Member Center.


April 30, 2025 RFA Technical Webcast:

 
Strengthening Legal Outcomes Through Food Safety Leadership"

 

REGISTER HERE for this live, interactive Event that you can join from your office!

Non-member registration form

Date and Time:

     * Wednesday, April 30, from 2:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
        (1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Central, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Mountain, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Pacific)
 

Overview:

This session highlights how robust food safety practices form the backbone of effective legal risk management in the food industry. When companies encounter recalls, breaches of contract, or litigation, legal response strategies are most successful when grounded in the technical expertise and documentation maintained

by food safety professionals. Attendees will learn how legal frameworks and scientific practices intersect to enhance both contract performance and crisis response.

Program Takeaways:

  • How food safety programs establish the evidentiary foundation for contract enforcement and liability assessments

  • Legal structures that reinforce procurement and sales processes already built around food safety protocols

  • Regulatory tools and contract language that align with food safety standards to increase resilience

  • The critical role food safety professionals play in identifying culpable parties through business records

    and lab testing, enabling effective indemnification and recovery

 

Presenters:

Jason Foscolo, Founder and Managing Partner, The Food Law Firm
Jason is the founder and managing partner at the firm. Prior to starting the Food Law Firm, Jason was a Judge Advocate in the United States Marine Corps. After separating with an honorable discharge after five years of active duty, Jason combined his love of food with his professional expertise and earned an LLM in Agriculture and Food Law at the University of Arkansas.

Jason has pioneered what it means to be a “Food Law Firm”. In 2011, Jason began the firm with a narrow focus on FDA and USDA regulatory compliance. As he gained experience, his skill set began to encompass other legal talents needed by his clients that did not necessarily have anything to do with food, such as trademark law and employment law. After a few years of further developing his competency in these ancillary areas, Jason has his lightbulb moment – it is not always optimal to provide à la carte legal services on an hourly basis to a foodbusiness. In a food business, legal guidance needs to be spread across multiple departments in real time. Traditionalnbilling was a barrier to the depth of engagement that clients found most valuable. Instead, fractionalgeneral counsel relationships with clients enabled Jason to inject his expertise into the clients’ daily decisionmaking cycle. The firm now has a simple ethos – integrate into the client’s business at all levels, give advice that anticipates problems rather than react to them, give timely feedback, and do it for a fixed monthly cost thatmanufacturers can understand.

Though he runs a nation-wide law practice, he lives in the Jacksonville, Florida area with his wife and three kids. He spends his free time traveling, foraging for mushrooms (chanterelles are his favorite), cooking, hiking, gardening, and searching for ramen joints in his home range.


John B. Diefenbach, Partner, The Food Law Firm
John B. Diefenbach serves as a partner at the Food Law Firm (the “Firm”), overseeing its litigation arm. A seasoned trial lawyer, John’s experience dovetails perfectly with the Firm’s business model.

Before joining forces with Jason Foscolo and becoming a partner, John successfully managed his boutique law firm specializing in commercial litigation. Additionally, he served as the Director of Litigation for Gruma Cor- poration, operating as Mission Foods, worked as an equity partner and lead litigator in a national law firm, and held the position of a military lawyer with the rank of Major in the United States Marine Corps.

Since 2012, John has been dedicated to resolving complex litigation issues for clients in the food industry. His extensive expertise has led to the management of a vast national portfolio of legal matters, including numerous lawsuits, class actions, and investigations. John’s trial perspective uniquely positions him to provide valuable in- sights into commercial agreements, employee relations, and regulatory matters. This perspective makes him an astute advisor to top-level management in day-to-day operations, aiding in the mitigation of a company’s litiga- tion risk. John is much, much more than a top-tier litigator – his experience, insight, and industry knowledge makes John a perfect fit for the firm’s general counsel ethos.

John received his juris doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law in 2004, and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Utah in 2001. He is admitted to practice in Virginia and Texas.

John is a former collegiate athlete who enjoys coaching his children in athletics, hiking, cooking, and home- steading. John and his family reside in the great state of Texas.

  

How does the Webcast work?

It's easy and convenient!  A virtual seminar is one that you can "attend" and participate in right from your offices. There is no travel time, and now provided at NO COST to RFA members!  

The RFA Webcast will include live audio along with a slide presentation on the Web. You just need a phone connection for the audio and an Internet connection.  

In addition, the webcast will allow you to comment and ask questions at specified times during the event using your phone.      

You can invite staff members to listen and participate too!  To get the most out of a webcast, it is recommended that you have no more than five people at any one computer connection. If you have multiple locations, please register each location separately.


Credits

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and the Research Chefs Association (RCA) have confirmed that continuing education credits are available for numerous RFA technical functions. Depending on the specific educational criteria of these two organizations, credits will be accepted for attendance at 1) RFA Webinars, 2) the RFA Fall Symposium and 3) the RFA Annual Conference.

Contact the RFA office for more information or for proof of participation.

 

Registration Information:

The cost for this event is as follows:

  • RFA Members: NO CHARGE - Now Included as a Member Benefit!

  • Non-Members: $310 per computer/audio connection

To attend the meeting, you can either:

  • Just send an email to [email protected] to register. There is no cost for members.  Nonmembers: checks must be made payable to the Refrigerated Foods Association. Payment should be received no later than April 28, 2025.

Once you have registered for the meeting, you will receive an email message inviting you to attend the web conference with instructions on how to attend. This message will provide the information that you need to join the meeting.



If you have questions about the RFA Technical Webcasts, please e-mail the RFA office at [email protected]
.