Samuel is a Full Professor of Food Risk Analysis and Regulatory Policies at the Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Laval, Québec, Canada.
Before Joining Université Laval in the fall of 2015, Samuel completed a secondment with the World Bank’s Global Food Safety Partnership where he led the Strategic Development of this initiative. Under his leadership, this public-private partnership developed and adopted its 2015-2020 strategic framework, to guide its actions in food safety capacity building globally.
Samuel has more than 15 years of experience in food regulatory policy setting. He served in senior food regulatory positions at the executive level with Health Canada for over 10 years, including the position of Director General of Health Canada’s Food Directorate, the Federal food standard setting organization in Canada from 2009 to 2015.
Samuel served as Vice Chair of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the international food standard setting body from 2011 to 2014. During his tenure, Samuel led the development and facilitated the adoption by consensus of the organization’s strategic plan for 2014-19.
Samuel currently serves as a senior food science and regulatory expert on a number of advisory bodies and committees domestically and internationally, including expert advice to food safety projects led by international organizations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank.
He also serves as expert adviser to national food regulatory authorities, including China’s National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA), where he supports the “Food Standards Development team”, as well as serves on the International Advisory Committee of the Centre (CFSA). Samuel initiated the foundation of the International Society for Food Regulatory Science (ISFoRS), a Non-Governmental Organization meant to promote this discipline to support the understanding and propagation of best practices in food regulatory measures.
In 2018, Samuel was elected as member of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IUFaST). He authored over 70 scientific publications and book chapters and serves on a number of international editorial boards of scientific journals related to food safety and nutrition.
Samuel received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI). He holds degrees in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering from the same University and from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris, France.
