Food Safety Matters

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we review the top food safety stories of 2022 and their impacts, the lessons learned, and what the future may hold for 2023 and beyond. Specifically, we discuss: COVID-19 and the resulting supply chain disruptions The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Agricultural Water Proposed Rule, also known as Subpart E of the Produce Safety Rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Food safety culture, a key topic of discussion at the 2022 Food Safety Summit (as well as the 2023 Summit to be held next May) The infant formula Cronobacter recall and resulting supply crisis USDA-FSIS' proposed regulatory framework for reducing Salmonella in poultry FDA’s issuance of the Food Traceability Final Rule under FSMA Section 204(d) The Reagan-Udall Foundation’s review of FDA’s Human Foods Program. News and Resources COVID-19 and supply chain [3:56] https://www.food-safety.com/articles/8041-supply-chain-management-a-year-in-review https://www.food-safety.com/articles/74

Sandra Eskin was appointed Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in March 2021. In this role, Sandra leads the Office of Food Safety, overseeing the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which has regulatory oversight for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. Prior to joining USDA, Sandra was the Project Director for Food Safety at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. for over 10 years, and also served as the Deputy Director of the Produce Safety Project (PSP) from 2008–2009, a Pew-funded initiative at Georgetown University. Prior to The Pew Charitable Trusts, Sandra spent nearly 20 years as a public policy consultant to numerous consumer advocacy and public interest organizations, providing strategic and policy advice on food and drug safety, labeling, and advertising. She has served as a member of multiple federal advisory committees related to consumer information on prescription drugs, meat and

Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D. is the Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness. She has a diverse background in food safety and sustainability, with a focus on environmental exposures across the food system. Dr. Coffman has conducted various research for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on topics such as farming opportunities in post-war Sierra Leonne, occupational and residential exposures from large pork production operations in rural North Carolina, and the association between nitrate in drinking water from food animal operations and fetal health outcomes. Dr. Coffman previously worked at Stop Foodborne Illness as a policy analyst, and she has testified in front of U.S. government officials, authored peer-reviewed papers, and helped draft federal regulations. Dr. Coffman received a Ph.D. in Environmental Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an M.S. degree from the University of California–Berkeley in Global Public Health and the Envi

David W.K. Acheson, M.D., F.R.C.P., is the President and CEO of The Acheson Group, a consulting firm that provides strategic advice on all matters relating to food safety and food defense, as well as recall and crisis management support, to food companies and ancillary technology companies around the world. Prior to founding The Acheson Group in 2013, Dr. Acheson served as the Chief Medical Officer in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA's CFSAN). Following several other positions at FDA, he was appointed Associate Commissioner for Foods, which gave him an agency-wide leadership role for all food and feed issues, including health promotion and nutrition. Dr. Acheson was also a partner at Leavitt Partners and managed Leavitt Partners Global Food Safety Solutions from 2009 to 2013. Dr. Acheson graduated from the University of London Medical School in 1980. Following training in internal medicine and infectious diseases in the UK, in 1987 he moved to the New E

Michael Cramer started his food career with Swift and Company at a turkey processing facility in eastern Pennsylvania while attending West Chester University. He graduated in 1977 with a B.S. degree in Health Education. During his career with Swift and Company, he was Quality Assurance (QA) Manager at plants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, a Production Specialist, and a Documentation Manager at the corporate headquarters. In 1993, Michael started with Specialty Brands Inc. in Ontario, Canada, where he was Director of Food Safety and Quality. He spent 27 years with the company, and remained as Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) through the purchase by Ajinomoto Foods North America Inc. He developed and implemented programs to ensure production of safe, quality, ethnic frozen foods. Mike retired from Ajinomoto Foods in July 2021. Mike has been a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), and was part of the FSQA team at Ajinomoto Foods that won the prestigio

Dr. Alissa Welsher is Associate Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Welsher received her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as an M.S. degree in Poultry Science and a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Arkansas. Her area of expertise is molecular physiology, and she specializes in heat stress and gut health. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Dr. Welsher about: Why a comprehensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is crucial in a poultry processing plant Why it is important, at the farm level, to consider pests that carry foodborne pathogens upstream, and the types of pests that carry foodborne pathogens Pathogens that cause problems in poultry houses Why producers should prioritize IPM as an important part of food safety programs Strategies to minimize the spread of pathogens and disease from pests throughout farms How producers can reevaluate IPMs in response to resistance issues Best practices for

Stephen Hughes is Prevention Coordinator within the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), within the Office of Food Safety at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). After outbreaks and adverse incidents, he runs a systematic process to identify and implement public health interventions intended to help limit or prevent future outbreaks linked to certain FDA-regulated foods. Before coming to FDA, Stephen worked in a public health program in Virginia, in program areas that included food safety, indoor air quality, aquatic health, and general environmental health.    Dr. Jennifer McEntire is Chief Food Safety and Regulatory Officer at the International Fresh Produce Association. Prior to the merger of United Fresh and Produce Marketing Association, Jennifer was Vice President of Food Safety and Technology at United Fresh Produce Association. A food microbiologist by background, she has always worked in the Washington D.C., area, bringing a scientific perspective to food safety regulatory is

Kimberly (Kim) Livsey is a Senior Emergency Response Coordinator in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA's) Office of Regulatory Affairs' (ORA’s) Office of Human and Animal Food Operations. In addition to more than 20 years of federal service at FDA, she has leveraged her expertise in food safety oversight and emergency management at the state and local government levels. Prior to her time at FDA, she was an environmental health specialist with the DeKalb County Board of Health in Decatur, Georgia, where she served as a supervisor and trainer in the food protection program. Kim has led incident response, management, and command activities on the frontlines of multiple natural disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Irma. She has also contributed to leadership and planning for food safety and defense at numerous special event operations, including the international G-8 summit, The World Games 2022, Democratic and Republican political conventions, and Presidential inaugurations. In Ma

Michael R. Taylor is a member of the board of Stop Foodborne Illness, a consumer organization supporting and representing the victims of foodborne illness and their families. From January 2010 to June 2016, he served as Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He led FDA's implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and oversaw FDA's other food-related activities, including its nutrition, labeling, food additive, dietary supplement, and animal drug programs. Previously, Mike served at FDA as a staff attorney and Deputy Commissioner for Policy, and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as FSIS Administrator and Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety. Prior to re-joining FDA in 2009, he spent nearly a decade in academia conducting food safety, food security, and public health policy research, most recently at George Washington University's School of Public Health. Mike is a graduate of Davidson College and the University of Virgi

An accomplished attorney and national expert in food safety, William (Bill) Marler has become the most prominent foodborne illness lawyer in America with his firm, Marler Clark: The Food Safety Law Firm, and a major force in food policy in the U.S. and around the world. For the past 26 years, Bill has represented victims of nearly every large foodborne illness outbreak in the U.S. He began litigating foodborne illness cases in 1993, when he represented Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor of the historic Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, in her landmark $15.6-million settlement with the company. The 2011 book, Poisoned, by best-selling author Jeff Benedict, chronicles the Jack in the Box outbreak and the rise of Bill Marler as a food safety attorney. Bill's advocacy for a safer food supply includes petitioning the U.S. Department of Agriculture to better regulate pathogenic E. coli, working with nonprofit food safety and foodborne illness victims' organizations, and helping spur the pass

John Butts, Ph.D., is the Principal at Food Safety By Design LLC and the Advisor to the CEO at Land O' Frost Inc., where he was in the primary technical role for 47 years, having retired in 2021. As part of his succession plan, Dr. Butts founded Food Safety By Design LLC in 2010. Food Safety By Design helps producers of high-risk products learn how to prevent and manage food safety risks. Dr. Butts' specialty is the incorporation of food safety practices into company culture, including root cause identification using the "Seek and Destroy" scientific strategy for identifying and eliminating harborage sites for pathogens, which Dr. Butts developed earlier in his career. In the early 1980s, Land O' Frost entered the shelf-stable meal business, which Dr. Butts facilitated with product development, process controls, quality assurance, and the invention of a proprietary sealing method. He also provided technical and management support to Frigorifico Canelones, the largest beef processing plant in Uruguay, from 199

Deborah Blum, Director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT and the Publisher of Undark magazine, is a Pulitzer-Prize winning science journalist, columnist and author of six books, most recently, The Poison Squad, a 2018 New York Times Notable Book. That book, as with all her recent books, focuses on influential moments in the history of science. She has worked as a science columnist for The New York Times, a blogger for Wired, and has written for other publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to Mother Jones, The Guardian to Lapham’s Quarterly. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Nature Writing, and Best Science On-Line. Before joining MIT in the summer of 2015, she was the Helen Firstbrook Franklin Professor of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a position she held for 18 years. Previously, she worked at five different newspapers, including as a staff science writer for The Sacramento Bee, where she won the Pulitzer in 1992 for h

Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., is the Director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Dr. Choiniere provides executive leadership for a broad portfolio of scientific and regulatory functions including risk and decision analysis, social and behavioral sciences, epidemiology, biostatistics and informatics, education and outreach, and food defense. Dr. Choiniere currently co-leads a core element of FDA's New Era of Smarter Food Safety focused on fostering and supporting food safety culture across the food system. He also chairs FDA's Toxic Elements Working Group, which prioritizes the Administration's efforts to reduce exposures to lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals from foods to the greatest extent feasible. Dr. Choiniere holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland and a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.  Kruti Ravaliya, M.S., Consumer S

Gillian Kelleher is President and CEO of Kelleher Consultants LLC, as well as the Chairperson of the Educational Advisory Board (EAB) for the 2023 Food Safety Summit. Gillian has significant, global leadership experience in the food industry and in food safety and quality, having lived and worked in Ireland, the UK, France, and the U.S. She has worked in diverse sectors including manufacturing, foodservice, retail, and distribution. She was formerly Vice President of Food Safety and Quality Assurance for Wegmans Food Markets, where her scope of responsibility included all aspects of food safety and quality for stores, self-manufacturing, distribution, and Wegmans' private-label program. Prior to her tenure at Wegmans, Kelleher also worked at Häagen Dazs, Burger King, Express Foods, and Pillsbury. In addition, she has led the development of food safety and quality programs for many large and small private-label suppliers and distributors. Kelleher earned her B.S. degree in Dairy and Food Science from Universit

Jill Stuber has served on FSQ teams for several multi-million-dollar food companies and food industry support companies, at both the corporate and frontline facility levels. She has defined expectations and programs for company-wide FSQ systems and has been responsible for verifying the implementation of those systems. Jill has led multi-plant teams to clearly define team and individual roles, expectations, and boundaries to more fully integrate and collaborate across organizations.  Jill holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in food science from the University of Wisconsin (at River Falls and Madison, respectively); as well as an M.S. degree in quality management from Eastern Michigan University. She is a professional coach certified through Learning Journeys, an accredited program through the International Coaching Federation. She is also HACCP Certified, PCQI Certified, an SQF Practitioner, an IFT Certified Food Scientist, a Lean Facilitator, and a Six Sigma Black Belt. Additionally, Jill is an active member of the

Markus Lipp, Ph.D., is the Senior Food Safety Officer at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Dr. Lipp leads the food safety work within the Food Systems and Food Safety Division at FAO, coordinating FAO's efforts to provide chemical and microbiological food safety risk assessments and capacity development to strengthen national capacities for food safety. Dr. Lipp previously worked in various public and private organizations focusing on a myriad of topics related to food safety, biotechnology, and standards-setting, including the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP), the International Bottled Water Association, Monsanto, Unilever, and the European Commission. Dr. Lipp holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Dr. Lipp [19:11] about: The ways in which a country’s regulatory capacity and traditional cuisine determines its unique food safety challenges and priorities Some of the pressing chemical an

Tim Stubbs is Senior Vice President of Food Safety and Product Research at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. He leads the Innovation Center's Food Safety Committee, an active group of food safety expert volunteers from processors and academia that shares best practices across companies, produces guidance documents, and conducts training. He also coordinates and funds dairy foods and food safety research projects at universities. Mr. Stubbs has more than 30 years of food research and development experience in leadership roles at Kraft Foods, Sara Lee, Hillshire Brands, and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. He has a broad background in food science and engineering, new product innovation, and food safety across a wide variety of product categories. He also sits on several food industry nonprofit boards and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Food Safety Magazine. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Tim Stubbs [21:14] about: The creation and funding of the Innovation Center

Dr. Charles Hofacre is the Principal at The Southern Poultry Research Group, a private contract research company, which he established with his wife in 2013. Previously, he worked in industry for a number of years before becoming a professor at the University of Georgia in the Department of Population Health and serving as Director of Clinical Services for the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center. Dr. Hofacre also served as the Executive Vice President of the the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP). Dr. Hofacre received a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine, a Master’s degree, and a Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University, as well as Master’s degree in Avian Medicine and a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medical Microbiology from the University of Georgia. Bill Potter has spent three decades leading food safety initiatives in the poultry industry. Currently, Bill is a Food Safety Technical Advisor at Elanco Animal Health, where he helps clients optimize their pre-harvest and plant interventions.  Pr

Marc Cwikowski is Founder and Managing Director of All Food Consulting and Co-Founder of World of Auditing. He has worked for more than 30 years in the food and beverage industry and held various senior global leadership and executive positions in companies including Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, and Danone. His former functions include audit process manager, director of quality and food safety strategy, director of supply chain capability development, food safety center director, and vice president for quality and food safety. He has international experience in innovation, quality assurance, and food safety, and has successfully designed and implemented quality and food safety strategies, created advanced initiatives for people development, and implemented strong quality and food safety programs to secure companies' business and reputation worldwide. Mr. Cwikowski holds a master's degree in chemistry and bio-industries and has served as an expert and board member for various global organizations. In this

To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2022 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Hal King, Managing Partner at Active Food Safety and John Zimmerman, Vice President of Quality Assurance and Food Safety at First Watch Restaurants; Mark Moorman, Director of the Office of Food Safety at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA’s CFSAN); Mikael Bengtsson, Industry Principle for Food and Beverage at Infor; Steve Mandernach, Executive Director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO); John Spink, Director of the Food Fraud Prevention Think Tank and Lead Instructor at the Food Fraud Prevention Academy; and Mitzi Baum, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with the following individuals about: Hal King and John Zimmerman [25:37]: The top risk factors that cause most foodborne illness outbreaks, and how a comprehensive food safety management system (FSMS) can help address those risk f