Food Safety Matters – Details, episodes & analysis

Sarah L. Brew, J.D. leads Faegre Drinker LLP's nationally recognized food litigation and regulatory practice. She is one of the country's leading food lawyers, representing food industry companies in a variety of complex cases, including many of the highest-profile and most media-scrutinized outbreaks and recalls over the past two decades. She also counsels clients on regulatory compliance, guiding them through U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections, recalls, warning letters, and enforcement actions; and advises on food safety, labeling, and marketing regulations and risk management issues. As a leading voice in food law, Sarah speaks nationally at food law conferences and before industry groups.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Sarah [33:43] about:

• The June 28, 2024 Supreme Court ruling on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc. decision of 1984, and the new ruling’s regulatory implications for the food industry
• How the Loper Bright decision could open up an avenue for industry to challenge important FDA or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) decisions, and the difficulties plaintiffs would face in actually challenging such decisions
• Ways in which the Loper Bright ruling might influence FDA and USDA rulemaking processes to prevent decisions from being challenged and ruled “unreasonable” in the future
• The potential for inconsistent application of food regulations arising from court rulings made under the new Loper Bright standard
• In general, the potential impacts that the Loper Bright ruling could have on food industry regulations and food safety.

News and Resources

Consumer Reports Raises Alarm Over Rocket Fuel Chemical in Kids’ Foods [4:18]
FDA: Limited Scientific Evidence Does Not Show Microplastics in Food, Packaging Pose Health Risk [11:14]
Experts Recommend Codifying Food Safety Culture After Major STEC Outbreak at Calgary Childcare Facilities [18:55]
FDA to Hold Public Meeting on Development of Postmarket Food Chemical Assessment Process [26:16]
FDA Human Foods Program (and CFSAN) Career Opportunities [26:49]
USDA-FSIS Publishes Final Regulatory Framework for Salmonella in Raw Poultry [27:47]
EPA Immediately Suspends Use of Herbicide Dacthal With Emergency Order [28:36]

Sponsored by: 
MSU Online Food Safety

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Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com

Joelle Mosso, M.S., is Associate Vice President of Science Programs for Western Growers, where she works alongside growers to develop improved approaches to food safety and sustainability challenges. She is an entrepreneurial scientist with a passion for pathogenic food microbiology, risk assessment, and working toward practical solutions for the food industry. She has a background in quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), building microbial testing laboratories, and evaluating and designing microbial diagnostic tools/approaches, as well as firsthand experience with produce and with managing food safety for complex international supply chains.

Before Western Growers, Joelle was Senior Director of Technical and Regulatory Affairs for the Organic Trade Association (OTA), served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Eurofins Produce, and held food safety and business leadership roles at Earthbound Farm and Olam Spices and Vegetable Ingredients. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland in Microbiology with honors in Molecular Biology and an M.S. degree in Food Science focused on pathogenic food microbiology from the University of California–Davis. Joelle has served on numerous industry technical groups including the Center for Produce Safety Technical Committee, the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) Food Safety Council, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), and the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Joelle [27:50] about:

• The unique path that led Joelle to her food safety career, beginning with her interest in agriculture as a child growing up in the California Central Valley growing region
• Western Growers’ efforts to help its members comply with food safety regulations like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act Agricultural Water Rule
• Available resources for industry on pathogen and environmental testing, including Western Growers’ "Primer on Preharvest Pathogen Testing of Leafy Green Products" and its recently released guide on soil sampling
• Why Cyclospora poses a distinct challenge to domestic produce safety, and ongoing efforts by FDA and USDA to address the growing threat
• The new Canadian P2 Proposal on the primary plastic packaging of consumer goods—for which Western Growers now offers a resource to help industry prepare—and how it affects packaging for fresh produce
• The complexity of packaging design for fresh-cut produce, which must consider a multitude of factors to ensure a food-safe internal atmosphere and adequate shelf life
• Farm-to-fork food safety risks that are introduced when changes are made in the name of sustainability, and the importance of taking into account factors like consumer behaviors as transitions are made
• The collaborative effort and systems approach that will be required to implement hygienic equipment design of farm equipment at scale, and the importance of doing so.

News and Resources

News
USDA-FSIS Publishes Final Regulatory Framework for Salmonella in Raw Poultry [3:48]
USDA-FSIS Begins New RTE Sampling Program to Verify Allergen Label Claims [15:45]
FDA Releases Data on Prevalence of Three Important Pathogens in Fresh Herbs [18:05]
Bill Aims to Create New Federal Food Administration That Would Take FDA's Food Responsibilities [20:16]
FAO/WHO Expert Committee Publishes Safety Evaluation of Certain Food Additives [23:13]

Interview Links
“Primer on Preharvest Pathogen Testing of Leafy Green Products”
“Fresh Produce Food Safety Considerations Relative to the Canadian P2 Proposal and the Role of Primary Plastic Packaging for Consumer Safety”

We Want to Hear from You!
Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com

To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2024 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Mitzi Baum, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness and Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs (acting) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition; Matt Taylor, Global Senior Manager of Food Consulting and Technical Solutions at NSF; Lori Dodson, Senior Advisor at the Maryland Cannabis Administration and Kathy Knutson, Ph.D., PCQI, Founder of Kathy Knutson Food Safety Consulting LLC; William Erdely, Head of Client Development at Körber Supply Chain Consulting; Larry Keener, CFS, PA, President and CEO of International Product Safety Consultants Inc. and Elizabeth (Liz) Presnell, J.D., Food Industry Consultant and Lawyer at Food Industry Counsel LLC; and Scott Jones, Director of North American Sales at Meritech.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with:

• Mitzi and Dr. Choiniere [3:26] about the joint Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness/FDA webinar series on food safety culture that produced 11 webinars, the final of which was presented live from the Summit
• Matt [14:56] about significant current events in food safety
• Dr. Knutson and Lori [35:53] about food safety regulation for cannabis-infused edibles and beverages
• William Erdely [55:33] about adapting to changes in food traceability requirements to enhance food safety
• Larry and Liz [1:22:11] about threats to food safety associated with legacy facilities and equipment, and how these hazards can be addressed
• Scott [1:40:11] about the use of automation to create a culture of hand hygiene compliance in the food sector.

News and Resources:

The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness/FDA Webinar Series

FSS 2024 Town Hall with FDA, CDC, USDA, and AFDO
FSS '24: Regulatory, Industry Experts Share Best Practices Around FSMA 204 and Traceability Efforts
The 26th Annual Food Safety Summit Attracts 3,400 Food Safety Professionals In Person and Virtually, a 26 Percent Increase From the 2023 Event

Sponsored by:

NSF
Körber Supply Chain Consulting
Meritech

We Want to Hear from You!
Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com

Donna F. Schaffner, M.Sc., is the associate director for food safety, quality assurance, and training at the Rutgers University Food Innovation Center. Donna has more than 20 years of experience as a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) specialist. She teaches FDA certificate programs in Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCHF), Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), general HACCP, Seafood HACCP, Better Process Control School, Food Defense, Intentional Adulteration – Vulnerability Assessments (IA-VA), and teaches microbiology and food safety classes in the U.S. and abroad. Donna holds Train the Trainer certificates for PCHF, FSVP, FSIS, and FDA HACCP, and Seafood HACCP, and Lead Instructor certificates for PCHF, FSVP, IA-VA, Seafood HACCP, and Meat & Poultry HACCP. She also serves as a Qualified Individual for Microbiology and Food Safety for HACCP and Food Safety Teams for numerous commercial food processing companies around the country, as well as a consultant for many others. Donna received her Bachelor's and Master's of Science in food science and technology from the University of Georgia.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters we speak to Donna [17:30] about:

• Customized corporate food safety training opportunities
• Boutique food products
• Investigating your company’s supply chain
• HACCP and Preventive Controls and GMPs: Back to the basics
• The devil’s in the details
• If it can go wrong, it’s gone wrong before
• Teaching aids: photos and stories
• Family-owned businesses: equipment design challenges
• Standing your ground on hygienic design
• Encouraging engineers and designers to understand food safety
• Want my certificate? Pass the test.
• Certified vs. qualified
• In-person vs. virtual courses
• Food safety for high school students: the next generation

News & Resources
Study: Food Animals Contain More Antimicrobial-Resistant Salmonella Than Previously Thought [8:36]

USDA-FSIS Releases New Guidelines on Controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter in Raw Poultry [12:50]

Sponsored by:

ARM & HAMMER

Visit AHfoodchain.com to learn more about the diverse and comprehensive food safety solutions available from ARM & HAMMER.

We Want to Hear from You!

Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com

Dr. Noel Anderson is managing partner of Mosaic Food Advisors LLC which helps start-up companies in the food and beverage arena succeed in the marketplace. Previously, Noel spent 19 years in Research & Development at PepsiCo and 18 years at General Foods/Kraft.

After receiving his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts in Food Science and Nutrition Noel stayed actively engaged with the Food Science Department. Noel served on its Industrial Advisory Board for more than 20 years, with 16 years as its Chairperson. During this time the department raised over $12 million and its Graduate Program achieved the #1 ranking in the US. He received the UMass Amherst Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award in 2011.

Noel is also very active in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). He currently serves as the 2020-2021 president of the 13,000 member association and was elected as an IFT Fellow in 2010. Previously Noel served as a trustee and then chair of the Board of Trustees for Feeding Tomorrow, IFT's foundation.

In this episode we speak to Noel [20:15] about:

• Food science as a multidisciplinary field of study
• Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)Factors driving changes in food science
• Wellness, health, and nutrition
• Sustainability
• New technologies in food science
• How to feed the world
• The science that underpins advances in food production
• Communicating science
• IFT and its ongoing initiatives

Bob Ferguson, Strategic Consulting, Food Safety Insights [10:20]
Food Safety Testing Continues to Increase

News and Resources
FDA Releases List of Prioritized Draft and Final Guidance Topics for Food Program [2:41]
SSAFE Launches Free Food Safety Culture Tool [5:32]

Sponsored by:

Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program 

Online MS in Food Safety Program

Curriculum: Online MS in Food Safety Program

We Want to Hear from You!
Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com

Dr. John W. Spink is an assistant professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at the Eli Broad Business College at Michigan State University (MSU). Previously, he was an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice in the College of Social Science at MSU and in the College of Veterinary Medicine. His leadership positions include product fraud-related activities with ISO 22000, GFSI, and the U.S. Pharmacopeia. Global activities include engagements with the European Commission, INTERPOL, Codex Alimentarius, and WHO/FAO, and he served as an advisor on food fraud to the Chinese National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. He also spent 11 years at the Chevron Corporation, and was an independent consultant, before earning a Ph.D. in packaging/anti-counterfeit strategies at MSU in 2009.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to John [15:28] about:

• Ten years later: Defining food fraud
• Past food fraud events
• What falls under the umbrella of food fraud?
• The role of the Global Food Safety Initiative in the food fraud discussion
• The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Intentional Adulteration rule
• Economically motivated adulteration
• Issues of FSMA and other regulatory compliance
• Labeling and authentication
• Prosecuting for low-hanging fruit, so to speak
• How food fraud fits into other food safety risks
• How supply chain management fits in
• Supply chain challenges during the pandemic
• Examining processes in greater detail

Resources
Food Fraud Prevention Think Tank
Food Fraud Prevention Free Online Training
USDA National Organic Program: Free online training on organic fraud prevention
Organic Trade Association (OTC), Organic Fraud Prevention Solutions (OFPS) program

News
How Chipotle survived a food safety crisis and a pandemic to debut on this year’s Fortune 500
Chipotle Website: Health and Safety

We Want to Hear from You!
Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Vidya Ananth about the increasing emphasis on digitalization of food safety processes and recording-keeping and what the implications are for the food industry.

Vidya Ananth is VP of Food Safety at Novolyze, where she leads Food Safety and Quality and its digitalization, Application Support, and Customer Success. As you are about to hear, she is extremely knowledgeable and has some great advice and thoughts to help you move forward with digitalizing your processes.

Vidya has been in the food industry for over 25 years working with General Mills, The National Food Lab, Safeway, Clorox, and Kohana Coffee - making significant contributions in the areas of food safety, quality, and regulatory affairs with her main goal to bend the curve of foodborne illness globally.

Vidya has helped small and large companies build effective Food Safety and Quality systems using risk-based prevention strategies and has helped build the food safety culture within these organizations.

Vidya received her BS in Biology and Chemistry from Delhi University. She received her MS in Food Microbiology from Iowa State University and holds certifications in HACCP, PCQI, FSVP, SQF, Internal audits, and a Diamond leadership program certificate.

In this BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters we Vidya Ananth about:

• Biggest changes to food safety in the past 25 years
• What food safety-related changes will the industry take hold in the near future
• The importance of digitalizing food safety processes
• The role FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint will have on digitalization  
• What digitalization looks like when applied to food safety and quality
• Taking a holistic approach to digitalization
• The impact digitalization has on food plants
• Novolyze’s journey to digitalization
• Digitalization’s impact on sanitation and environmental monitoring
• Next steps the food industry should be taking to maximize digitalization

Sponsored by:
Novolyze

Resources

White Paper - Environmental Monitoring Programs - Obtaining Value from Data
Digital Transformation of Food Safety - A Cocoa Case Study

Wendy White is the Industry Manager for Food and Beverage for Georgia Tech’s Georgia Manufacturing Extension Program (GaMEP). She serves as GaMEP’s food safety expert to Georgia food businesses by providing educational outreach and aiding the improvement of food safety and quality systems. 

Before joining academia in 2019, Wendy spent the first 17 years of her career in food manufacturing and distribution, most recently as a Corporate Director of Food Safety & Quality for Golden State Foods.

Wendy received her BS in Biology at the University of Georgia and stayed to complete her MS in Food Science under the tutelage of Dr. Larry Beuchat.

She has been a member of the IAFP since 2001 and has been deeply involved with many Professional Development Groups over the years.  In 2011, she was honored to receive the IAFP President’s Recognition Award from Dr. Lee-Ann Jakus.

Wendy has presented at many industry conferences over the years and has published articles in the Journal of Food Protection and Food Safety Magazine, among others.  She currently serves on the Editorial Board of Food Safety Magazine and is a previous member of the BRCGS International Advisory Board.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Wendy about [6:46]:

• The role of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership in professional education
• The educational opportunities that are offered
• Customized training
• Playing the matchmaker of educational resources
• Transitioning from corporate America to academia
• Shifting from in-person instruction to virtual
• Advantages and disadvantages of virtual training
• How to boost student engagement
• Lessons learned about virtual training
• Honing one’s teaching approach
• Using personal stories as teachable moments
• In-class brainstorming
• How virtual extends training globally and enhances global communication
• Training after the pandemic

News and Resources:

Cornell Scientists Discover Five Unknown Species to Listeria Genus [2:02]
FDA Launches Traceability Challenge [4:05]

We Want to Hear from You!

Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com

Ryk Lues, Ph.D., holds the positions of Professor of Food Safety and Director of the Centre for Applied Food Sustainability and Biotechnology (CAFSaB) at the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa. His main field of specialization involves social-behavioral aspects that impact food safety and organizational food safety culture. He serves on several national regulatory and legal advisory teams, acts as an expert witness, and has held the office of vice president of the South African Association of Food Science and Technology (SAAFoST). He is a National Research Foundation of South Africa-rated scientist.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Ryk Lues [17:38] about:

• Evolution of food safety in Africa
• The 2017–2018 listeriosis outbreak in South Africa
• Realizing that food safety has a face and a name
• Consumer awareness of food safety
• The role of science in food safety
• A closer look at food regulations in Africa
• Making food safety culture more tangible
• The importance of risk mitigation
• Increasing food employee engagement
• The challenges of multiple societal customs and languages on food safety
• The need for expanded capacity building in Africa
• The impact of food insecurity on food safety practices
• The VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) environment
• Required characteristics of food safety leadership
• Identifying and overcoming food safety challenges in Africa
• African willingness to embrace new technologies
• Ongoing efforts to enhance food safety and change food safety culture

We also speak with Stacey Popham, VP Quality & Food Safety for the Americas at Barry Callebaut [3:40] about how her team is bringing attention to World Food Safety Day on June 7.

Joint FAO/WHO/Codex Alimentarius Campaign Page

News and Resources
FDA to Collect, Test Samples of Lettuce Grown in Salinas Valley, CA
California LGMA Board Recommends Preharvest Testing to Reduce Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
FDA Releases Report on Foodborne Illness Risk Factors in Retail Food Store Delis
FDA Releases Report Highlighting Salmonella Newport Outbreak in Red Onions

Sponsored by:
Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program 
Online MS in Food Safety Program
Curriculum: Online MS in Food Safety Program

We Want to Hear from You!
Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com

In this BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Leonard Mongiello (business development and sales manager) from the Industrial Fumigant Company (IFC) about best practices for keeping birds out of your facilities.

In this BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to IFC about:

• Why birds at a food processing facility considered a problem
• Solutions available to control or exclude birds from your facility
• The cost of effective bird control methods and projects
• What can be done about bird droppings on the ground and surfaces
  
  

Sponsored by:

IFC