CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 4, 2025--
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific organization committed to advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system, is pleased to announce that registration is now open for IFT FIRST: Annual Event and Expo, which is being held July 13-16, 2025, at McCormick Place in Chicago.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250304635067/en/
The world of food is evolving, driving a new era fueled by healthy innovation for people and planet. From food additives and ultra-processed foods to safety recalls and nutritional shifts, attendees at IFT FIRST (Food Improved by Research, Science, and Technology) will see how the global food system is adapting to a changing food environment as leading companies and top experts provide a glimpse at the future of food.
IFT FIRST unites top experts throughout the science of food disciplines across academia, industry, and government. Through cutting-edge scientific programming and multi-disciplinary discussions, IFT FIRST addresses the biggest issues impacting the food industry across novel technology and innovation, health and nutrition, sustainability and climate, food safety, and consumer insights. The dynamic expo floor, a celebration of the latest food innovations and technologies, features some of the top food, health, and wellness companies in the world launching or showcasing the products and solutions that will help usher in a new era of food.
“As we see a broader focus on the science of food and its place in the food system, collaboration and innovation have never been more critical,” said IFT CEO Christie Tarantino-Dean. “IFT FIRST is where the world’s leading experts come together to tackle the food system’s biggest challenges and share groundbreaking research. For those who want to be at the forefront of innovation and make connections that drive real progress, IFT FIRST is the place to be.”
Keynotes will focus on critical food topics including:
Meanwhile, popular features including the Startup Pavilion and rapid-pitch competition known as The Pitch!, networking events and opportunities that include exhibitor-to-attendee matchmaking, as well as student product development and research competitions return once again as the latest iteration of IFT’s longstanding annual meeting is guaranteed to be one of its most memorable.
Register for IFT FIRST before April 19, 2025, and receive an early bird discount. IFT members also receive a special discount. To learn more, email membershipinfo@ift.org.
About IFT FIRST
IFT FIRST: Annual Event and Expo is one of the most influential food technology events in the world as it unites instrumental leaders across the global food system to help shape the future of food. Each year, IFT FIRST (Food Improved by Research, Science, and Technology) convenes prominent food, health, and nutrition professionals across industry, academia, and government to collaborate, innovate, and educate. IFT FIRST features a dynamic expo floor that connects many of the top global food and wellness companies with buyers and those with purchasing influence, while also offering cutting-edge scientific programming that explores the hottest topics across the science of food. IFT FIRST also offers valuable networking opportunities, unique food competitions, and engaging interactive experiences to connect, enrich, and empower attendees in their missions to transform the global food system. For more information, go to www.iftevent.org.
About Institute of Food Technologists
Since 1939, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) has served as the voice of the global food science community. IFT advocates for science, technology, and research to address the world’s greatest food challenges, guiding our community of more than 200,000. IFT convenes professionals from around the world – from producers and product developers to innovators and researchers across food, nutrition, and public health – with a shared mission to help create a global food supply that is sustainable, safe, nutritious, and accessible to all. IFT provides its growing community spanning academia, industry, and government with the resources, connections, and opportunities necessary to stay ahead of a rapidly evolving food system as IFT helps feed the minds that feed the world. For more information, please visit ift.org.
Registration is now open for IFT FIRST: Annual Event and Expo, one of the most influential food technology events in the world. The popular showcase of food innovation, hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists, returns to McCormick Place in Chicago July 13-16, 2025. (Photo: Business Wire)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — When Tafara Muvhevhi, a Zimbabwean driving instructor, began work 16 years ago, his job was simple: teach the highway code and prepare learners to ace their driving test.
Today, his priorities have changed. His main concern is no longer just the exam, but whether his students will survive some of the world’s deadliest roads. This is vital in a country where road crashes rank among the top killers, according to the national statistics agency, and road accident fatality rates are among the continent's worst. In Zimbabwe, a crash hits every 15 minutes and five die and 38 are injured each day, according to the country's traffic safety agency.
“Back then we were teaching by the book, it was all by the book,” Muvhevhi said while coaching his latest student through parallel parking and smooth reversing into spaces marked by blue drums on a dusty and worn-out tarmac training ground on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.
Once known for orderly traffic and well-kept roads, Zimbabwe's road safety steadily has deteriorated since the 2000s, degenerating into traffic chaos in the 2010s as economic decline gutted road maintenance, informal public transport boomed and enforcement weakened. Despite renewed repairs and policing efforts, dangerous driving remains deeply entrenched.
"The other drivers are no longer patient with us, they hoot, they overtake illegally, putting pressure on the students so our students are basically trying to adjust,” he said, before his student navigated through streets where both drivers and pedestrians have little regard for rules.
For the student, 19-year-old Winfrida Chipashu, a university accounting major, the roads of Harare are more intimidating than balancing ledgers.
“You cannot really compare it to accounting because (in accounting) you have all the concepts," Chipashu said. “When you are driving in the jungle, you are confused by other people who are not following the road rules.”
The southern African nation’s roads turn most lethal during festive seasons and other holidays, but peril lurks daily, driven largely by dangerous driving that the government says is of alarming concern.
Zimbabwe has one of Africa’s highest road accident fatality rates, with the World Health Organization estimating nearly 30 deaths per 100,000 people.
On the roads, the contradictions are stark. Minibus taxis bearing “safety first” signs swerve wildly into pedestrian lanes and oncoming traffic. Fare collectors hang off doors and the back of moving vehicles shouting for customers. Sedans jammed with 12 passengers, including in the trunk, defy five-seat limits.
Authorities say 94% of road accidents in the country of 15 million people are caused by human error. Cellphone distractions among drivers and pedestrians cause about 10% of deaths, said Munesu Munodawafa, head of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe.
“That is frightening,” said Munodawafa. “For such a small population, those numbers are alarming.”
Zimbabwe's crisis mirrors a wider African pattern. Road accidents here kill about 300,000 people annually, about a quarter of the global toll. The continent has the world’s highest fatality rate at 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with a global average of about 18, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa. This is despite the continent of 1.5 billion people accounting for just about 3% of the global vehicle population.
Road traffic deaths in Africa are also rising quicker than in any other region, with fatalities jumping 17% between 2010 and 2021, according to the World Health Organization’s latest Africa road safety report released in mid-2024.
The WHO links the surge in part to weak road safety laws and enforcement, reckless driving, and rapid urbanization and motorization. Vehicle registrations in Africa nearly tripled between 2013 and 2021, driven by imported used vehicles and a sharp rise in motorcycles and three-wheelers. Pedestrians, cyclists and riders of two- and three-wheelers account for about half of all fatalities, according to the U.N. agency.
In Uganda, where unregulated motorcycles dominate transport, reckless overtaking and speeding caused 44.5% of crashes in 2024, police there say, while in neighboring Kenya and across East Africa, frequent accidents on poor roads and dangerous driving fuel repeated calls for tougher road safety rules.
To increase road safety, police in Zimbabwe have recently acquired body cameras and breathalyzers and are pushing for a review of the driver licensing system, including docking points for offenders and a revamp of driver training programs to highlight the dangers of reckless driving.
“Drivers are not licensed to be killers, they are licensed to practice road safety and safeguard lives on the road but sadly that is not the case,” said police spokesperson Paul Nyathi.
For instructors like Muvhevhi, survival has become the lesson.
“When we are teaching our students, it’s no longer an issue of just obtaining the driver’s license,” he said. “We teach them to stay alive in spite of incorrect actions of other road users.”
For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse
The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
People walk on the sidewalk on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
People board a minibus in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
An overview of commuters at a minibus taxi area during rush hour in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.(AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Commuters walk through parked vehicles during rush hour in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Winfrida Chipashu takes road driving lessons in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
