John Butts is the vice president of research at Land O'Frost. He first joined the company in 1974. His focus there includes the application of scientific principles and quality management technology to develop sanitation process control methods and procedures. John is mostly known for the development of the "seek and destroy" process controls for Listeria which has been adopted throughout the food industry. He is a leading expert on sanitary design and food safety culture and has given over 100 ...
Oct 09, 2018•1 hr 2 min
In this BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters, representatives from Neogen and AOAC INTERNATIONAL discuss the benefits of having testing methods and kits independently approved and certified. You will learn all about the beginnings of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, how the organization has evolved, and what it means for a company within the food industry to be an affiliate member. To help us better understand why AOAC INTERNATIONAL membership is a plus, our editorial director, Barbara Van Renterghem, spoke ...
Oct 02, 2018•28 min
Shawn Stevens is an attorney and founding member of the Food Industry Counsel , a law firm that provides food safety legal and regulatory consulting services exclusively for food industry clients, ultimately helping them anticipate, navigate, and resolve their most pressing food safety challenges. As a food industry consultant and lawyer, Shawn works throughout the U.S. and abroad with food industry clients (including the world's largest growers, processors, restaurant chains, distributors, and ...
Sep 25, 2018•1 hr 11 min
In 2008, Maple Leaf Foods had a devastating outbreak caused by Listeria contamination at one of its prepared meats facilities. It resulted in 23 deaths and many serious illnesses. Since this tragedy, Maple Leaf Foods has committed to becoming a global leader in food safety and has invested significant people and financial resources in achieving this commitment. Maple Leaf Foods is a leading consumer protein company, making high-quality, innovative products under national brands including Maple L...
Sep 11, 2018•48 min
Frank Yiannas is the vice president of food safety at Walmart—the world's largest food retailer. In that role, Frank oversees all food safety—as well as other public health functions—for Walmart, serving over 200 million customers around the world on a weekly basis. His scope of responsibilities includes food safety oversight of Walmart's stores, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam's Clubs. He is also charged with training and education of associates, food safety oversight of thousands of food supplie...
Aug 28, 2018•1 hr 15 min
Dane Bernard is currently the managing director of Bold Bear Food Safety where he offers consulting services. Prior to that, he served as the vice president of food safety and quality assurance at Keystone Foods until 2014. That role also included responsibilities over global programs on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and food safety. Before that, Dane was the vice president of food safety for the National Food Processors Association (NFPA)—formerly the National Canners Asso...
Aug 14, 2018•1 hr 14 min
Earlier this month, the Food Safety Magazine team gathered in Salt Lake City, UT for the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). The IAFP Annual Meeting was attended by more than 3,800 top industry, academic, and governmental food safety professionals from six continents. Each year, this premiere event for industry professionals convenes and discusses current and emerging food safety issues, the latest science, and innovative solutions to new and recurring pro...
Jul 24, 2018•46 min
Sean Leighton is the vice president of food safety and quality for Cargill, based in Wayzata, MN. In August 2018, Sean will be moving into the role of vice president corporate food safety, quality and regulatory for Cargill when Mike Robach retires. Prior to joining Cargill, Sean worked for over 13 years at The Coca-Cola Company in various roles across quality, food safety, and environmental sustainability. He worked in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Sean has a B.Sc. in Bacteriology from the Univ...
Jul 10, 2018•1 hr 4 min
In this special BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters, we focus on the topic of blockchain and how it can be used within the food industry. You will learn all about what exactly blockchain is, its history, and how it can be applied to our food supply chain. To help us better understand blockchain's use in the food sector, our editorial director, Barbara Van Renterghem, spoke with two experts from FoodLogiQ ( http://bit.ly/2KaeJIC) . Katy Jones is the chief marketing officer at FoodLogiQ. She hold...
Jun 28, 2018•21 min
Dr. Bob Brackett is the vice president of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) http://bit.ly/2yvT9ck and director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) http://bit.ly/2KbZaiV . Prior to joining IIT, Dr. Brackett served as senior vice president and chief science and regulatory officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Before that, he served at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). His initial role there was...
Jun 26, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Mike Robach is vice president, corporate food safety, quality, & regulatory for Cargill based in Minneapolis, MN. Mike joined Cargill in January 2004 to lead the company's corporate food safety and regulatory affairs programs. Since then, Mike has increased the department's scope to include animal health and quality assurance. He continues to refocus the department toward global efforts in line with Cargill's vision of being the global leader in nourishing people. Mike began his career with ...
Jun 12, 2018•1 hr 24 min
Kathy Gombas is a recognized food safety expert with over 30 years of experience in the food industry specializing in preventive controls, supply chain management, food safety auditing, and regulatory affairs. Kathy retired from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after 10 years of service. She was a senior advisor at FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). While at CFSAN, Kathy was in a leadership role supporting the agency's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) impl...
May 22, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Bill Marler is the most prominent foodborne illness lawyer in America, and a major force in food policy in the U.S. and around the world. Bill's firm—Marler Clark: The Food Safety Law Firm— ( https://marlerclark.com/ ) has represented thousands of individuals in claims against food companies whose contaminated products have caused life-altering injuries and even death. Bill began litigating foodborne illness cases in 1993, when he represented Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor of...
May 08, 2018•1 hr 23 min
Melanie Neumann is the president of Neumann Risk Services ( http://www.neumannriskservices.com/ ), and executive vice president of Matrix Sciences—a firm that focuses on food safety risk management, business and brand protection, regulatory compliance, and industry best practices. Melanie leverages her 19 years of industry experience as a food law attorney along with her Masters of Science in Food Safety to help clients manage the risks relating to each step in the supply chain, from supplier as...
Apr 24, 2018•1 hr 17 min
Don Schaffner is distinguished professor and Extension Specialist in food science at Rutgers University. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers on a variety of topics including handwashing, cross-contamination, quantitative microbial risk assessment, and predictive food microbiology. Dr. Schaffner is active in several scientific associations, including the International Association for Food Protection where he is a past-president. Ben Chapman is associate professor and food safety Extens...
Apr 10, 2018•1 hr 10 min
Jorge Hernandez is the chief food safety and compliance officer for Wholesome International, a restaurant company with different concepts and brands in the quick and fast casual foodservice markets in the U.S. He is responsible for food safety, quality, regulatory compliance, and sustainability for the organization. This includes developing structure and reporting lines for the staff, risk-based policies and procedures that meet or exceed FDA, USDA, and/or state regulations, as well as the depar...
Mar 27, 2018•57 min
In this BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters, we will focus on next-generation sequencing and the advantages of using 16S Metagenomics to identify spoilage organisms in your facility thereby reducing the possibility of spoiled products reaching your consumers. You will learn about a 16S Metagenomics service and how to join the 16S Challenge that gives you a chance to take advantage of the Advanced Microbial Mapping Program and get your facility biomapped at no charge. To help us explore this new...
Mar 23, 2018•19 min
Michael Cramer is currently the senior director of food safety and quality assurance with Ajinomoto Windsor, Inc. The company was formed through various acquisitions (Multifoods, Specialty Brands, and Windsor Foods) and ultimately the purchase of Windsor Foods by Ajinomoto. He will celebrate his 25th year with the company in October 2018. Mike is an SQF practitioner, ASQ-certified quality auditor, and a preventive controls-qualified individual. CRC Press published Mike's book "Food Plant Sanitat...
Mar 13, 2018•1 hr 12 min
Larry Keener has a long record of involvement, both nationally and internationally, with food industry issues. He is the current vice president and co-chair of the Austrian-based Global Harmonization Initiative ( http://www.globalharmonization.net/ ), an organization founded in 2004 to promote harmonization of food safety legislation and regulations. He is president and chief executive officer of Seattle-based International Product Safety Consultants, Inc. ( http://www.foodsafetyprofessionals.co...
Feb 27, 2018•1 hr 6 min
William Weichelt is in the newly created position of director, Food Safety & Industry Relations, for the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and has over 20 years of experience in the foodservice and food manufacturing sectors. The NRA is the largest foodservice trade association in the world by membership—supporting over 500,000 restaurant businesses. They represent and advocate for foodservice industry interests—with a focus on financial and regulatory obstacles. They also provide tools ...
Feb 13, 2018•1 hr 1 min
Barbara interviews Deirdre Schlunegger, the CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness. Stop Foodborne Illness is a national nonprofit public health organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens. Their mission is to promote sound food safety policy and best practices, build public awareness and assist those impacted by foodborne illness. Stop Foodborne Illness was founded in 1993 in the wake of the Jack-in-the-Box E. coli outbreak by a group of foodborne illness victi...
Jan 23, 2018•1 hr 2 min
Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University, having been employed with the university for over 22 years. Dr. Jaykus received a Ph.D. (1993) in environmental sciences and engineering from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She previously earned B.Sc. (1979) and M.Sc. (1982) degrees in food science from Purdue University, as well ...
Jan 09, 2018•1 hr 4 min
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, the Food Safety Magazine team discusses: Top news stories and trending topics we covered on the podcast this year A look back at the Food Safety Modernization Act's rules that took effect in 2017 Food Safety Magazine's most-viewed content in 2017 Trends observed via Bob Ferguson's Food Safety Insights series and forecasts for 2018 Commentary on some of our most memorable expert guests, and continuing themes we heard in various interviews Some podcasting le...
Dec 26, 2017•49 min
This special BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters focuses on Allergens. Concerns about food allergens have been around now for quite some time, and the food industry has done a respectable job of proactively guarding against unintended food allergens in their products. However, with the introduction of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), continued globalization of the food supply and increased regulatory activities, food manufacturers will need to keep diligent in their food allergen contr...
Dec 21, 2017•25 min
Will Daniels is president of the produce division at IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group. In this role, Will is responsible for lab and consulting services for the produce industry. Prior to joining IEH, Will was president and CEO of Fresh Integrity Group, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in operations and food safety consulting for the fresh produce and perishables industries. He was recently involved in the cold-pressed juice industry, working with two startups to develop their operation...
Dec 12, 2017•1 hr 18 min
Dr. Hal King is the founder and CEO of Public Health Innovations ( http://publichealthinnovations.biz/ ), an ideation technology and consulting business. Hal is a public health professional who has worked in the investigation of foodborne and other disease outbreaks with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, He has also performed funded research on causation of diseases at Emory University. Hal has worked in the prevention of intentional adulteration of foods for U.S. Army Reserves Con...
Nov 28, 2017•1 hr 15 min
Dr. Darin Detwiler is the Assistant Dean of Graduate Academic and Faculty Affairs at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is also the Lead Academic of the MS in Regulatory Affairs of Food and Food Industry ( http://bit.ly/2zCQi00 ) and Professor of Food Policy. In addition to being the Founder and President of Detwiler Consulting Group, LLC, Dr. Detwiler serves as the Executive Vice President for Public Health at the International Food Authenticity Assurance Organization. Dr. Detwiler serve...
Nov 14, 2017•1 hr 3 min
This special BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters focuses on Listeria Right Now, an environmental Listeria test offering molecular-level accuracy, with no enrichment and a total time to results of under one hour. This innovative food safety product was introduced at the annual IAFP meeting this year, with many people remarking that it was a "game changer". Because of the pervasiveness of Listeria in the environment, the risk that Listeria can be introduced into a food processing facilities can h...
Oct 30, 2017•21 min
Dr. David Acheson, M.D., is the founder and CEO of The Acheson Group and brings more than 30 years of medical and food safety research and experience to provide strategic advice as well as recall and crisis management support to food companies and ancillary technology companies on a global basis on all matters relating to food safety and food defense. David graduated from the University of London Medical School and practiced internal medicine and infectious diseases in the United Kingdom until 1...
Oct 24, 2017•1 hr 6 min
After obtaining her B.Sc. in poultry science from the University of Florida and serving in the meat and poultry industry, Trish began her career in food safety in 1997 as director of process and product development at ABC Research Corporation in Gainesville, FL. In 2004, she joined SGS, Consumer Testing Services, as the regional operations director for the Americas until 2009 when she became director of food safety systems for Eurofins Scientific. She is a Food Safety Preventive Controls Allianc...
Oct 10, 2017•1 hr 21 min
