Explore every episode of the podcast The Rotten Apple Food Safety Podcast

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* The Great Tuna Scam (and what was going on with my salad in New York?);

* Packaging corner: drinking straws and hazards in plastic alternatives;

* Peek inside a mustard mill.

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 167 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* How Salmonella works;

* Anatomy of a food crime;

* Revenge of the turkeys (just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 166 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Four quick bites: Reader response to intrinsic versus extrinsic hazards | Boar’s Head Sanitation Manager spills the dirt | Wurst pun | PFAS in pesticides |

* Emerging trends in food fraud (2024);

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* How rainbow sprinkles are made (just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 157 🍏

Cover image: Tokyo fish markets in 2015 (by author)

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Global insights from the UK Food Crime Report;

* E. coli in leafy greens - a root cause analysis;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* Dodgy doctor’s diet advice almost kills baby (not for fun!).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 156 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Reader insight: Intrinsic versus extrinsic hazards;

* Emerging trends in food safety (2024);

* Yersinia mystery solved - a case study;

* Out now: The Rotten Apple e-book, Issues 126 to 150;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 155 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Food safety trend: Freezer temperatures to increase?

* Sanitation failures and death toll increases in Listeria deli-meat outbreak;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* Space beer = good beer.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 154 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* A Guide to Listeria Controls and Environmental Monitoring Programs;

* Bird flu in cows: “This could go pandemic”;

* 3 Weird food fraud moments from the past year;

* A history of the German cockroach (just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 153 🍏

Cover image: AI imagines cockroaches

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Three things I’ve learned in 3 years with The Rotten Apple;

* What it feels like to be injured by food ;

* WGS: the game-changing tech for solving mystery outbreaks;

* Learn about food smuggling;

* Food fraud news, emerging issues and recent incidents.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 152 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Postcard from the Aussie food science conference;

* Olympic Sport and Contaminated Food;

* Lead in Cinnamon, an overview;

* The Best Normal Dish For Getting Screwdrivers Out Of Your Food (AI recipes).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 151 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Save the date: Meet-up on Thursday 15th August;

* Herbs and botanicals food fraud overview;

* What it’s like to have an E. coli gastric infection;

* Take Three for the Sea;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 150 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Call for data on lead in spices and tropane alkaloids in foods;

* The Curious Case of the French Mineral Water Scandal;

* What are carbon-negative foods?;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* Chocolate mayonnaise.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 149 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Food fraud 2024 - what the experts say;

* Cyclospora, a growing food safety threat (or not?);

* Highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy foods;

* Did you know… (facts and quotes from IAFP).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 148 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Food defence case study: cyberattack threatens allergic consumers

* 7 Food safety risks for 2025 and beyond

* How crackers are made (just for fun)

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 165 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

·        Microorganisms on disposable gloves, a new food safety hazard?;

·        Packaging corner: hazardous chemicals found in plant-based packaging;

·        Anatomy of an alcohol fraud;

·        How to make a pickle sandwich.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 147 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Meetup (in person!) at IAFP next week;

* Crisis Management Resources;

* Everything you need to know about hepatitis E;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* How to fake a mushroom.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 146 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* (US) FDA’s comments regarding an ineffective recall of dangerous children’s food (what the?!);

* Auditor perspective: Key non-conformances in food safety culture implementation (and how to prevent them);

* Food Fraud Quick Bite: Frothy Milk;

* How Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are Made (just for fun);

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 145 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Postcard from America;

* Housekeeping: managing your subscription, special lifetime offer;

* Learn About Seafood Fraud;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 144 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Microplastics in seafood - where do they come from, what do they look like?;

* Fallout from an allergen mistake;

* Quality Managers and the Art of Influence;

* Dietary advice from the 1950s (just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 143 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Food Safety Scorecard;

* Food Fraud in a Global Context;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* When Oysters Were a Poor Man’s Food (just for fun);

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 142 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Join us at our June meet-up on Thursday/Friday this week;

* What food safety means to you (competition winners);

* Unexpected Food Safety Incidents: 3 Case Studies;

* Packaging Corner: Updates to the BRC Packaging Standard;

* The BEST (funny) food safety video for your team;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 141 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Competition: win a mug for Food Safety Day;

* Food fraud disasters, will insurance save your food business?;

* New words to know in 2024;

* Expect the unexpected for Food Safety Day;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 140 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Mistake proofing in food systems;

* Tara flour declared ‘unapproved’, but not ‘unsafe’ by the US FDA 🤔;

* Why one man put lettuce down his pants;

* A very brief history of gravlax;

* The best crab joke in the universe.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 139 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Erratum (Paprika fraud);

* The world’s most dangerous cheese;

* Palm oil, cocoa, coffee and soy supply shakeup;

* Truly Disturbing Foods (just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 138 🍏

Cover image: Wikimedia Commons

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Verification for food fraud prevention systems

* What does a food fraud team look like (and what to do if you can't get one)

* Are underweight ingredients a food fraud issue?

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 164 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Case study: Paprika adulterated with carcinogenic dye;

* Plastic safety news: nanoplastics in bottled water, disease costs from plastic and BPA in spandex clothes;

* Egg and sandwich puns (Just for fun);

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 137 🍏

Cover image: Thomas Tarantelli

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Save time by listening, now on your favourite podcast app;

* E. coli in leafy greens, new knowledge;

* Salmonella in salmon;

* On fire extinguishers and cookies, fries and breast implants (just for fun)

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 136 🍏

Cover image: Freepik

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Crustacean-related food safety risks in new foods;

* Food defence 101;

* Top 5 food safety non-conformances;

* Crabs, Crabs, Crabs.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 135 🍏

Cover image by Rod Long on Unsplash

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* A Rare, Deadly Food-borne Illness Strikes Diners;

* Learnings from the UK meat scandal (one year on);

* Tropane alkaloid poisoning from leafy greens - new insights;

* Job Done! WHO/FAO Food Allergen Risk Assessments Completed.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 134 🍏

Cover image: Street food in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, used under licence

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* ATP testing in food safety - an introduction;

* Top 10 root causes of allergen-related recalls;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* Mac n Cheese Ice Cream (Just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 133 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Is ChatGPT getting dumber?;

* Snails and sloths - food labelling changes by the USDA;

* Fools Foods for 1st April;

* Two long reads for your holiday pleasure.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 132 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Case study: How massive quantities of soybeans and corn turned “organic” in the blink of an eye;

* Banana extinction - a new hope;

* Are egg shells weaker than before?;

* The raw chicken challenge;

* 🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 131 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Food safety training exercise, What’s Wrong with This Picture?;

* Packaging Corner: PFAS phase out, red colours on packs, wanna buy a Russian oligarch’s factory?

* FSSC version 6 - what you need to know;

* When Flies Eat (Just for Fun);

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 130 🍏

Cover image: wirestock on Freepik

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Case Study: Contaminated food + handwashing failures cause brain infection;

* Chocolate supply chains in crisis;

* That’s Interesting: Race and Allergies;

* A bacon pun (just for fun);

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 129 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Save the date: Meet-up on Thursday 14th March;

* Stay Ahead of the Curve: A Road Map for Implementing New Audit Standards;

* Insect-based Foods and Food Fraud;

* Photo competition winners;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 128 🍏

Cover image: pvproductions on Freepik

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* How to ace your next food safety audit;

* Food safety champion makes melons great again;

* Insight: Loud and jumbled food innovations.

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 163 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Listeria risks and controls: new insights;

* Packaging corner: PFAS testing and plastic reuse risks;

* Food safety snapshot: labelling errors and chemical contamination;

* What’s wrong with this picture?

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 127 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Is Alzheimer’s a foodborne illness?;

* Corruption in food supply chains;

* Who ya Gonna Call (just for fun);

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 126 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Recalls: 2023 by the numbers;

* Chlorate and perchlorates in food;

* 5 food crime mini case studies: floor salmon, disappearing poultry meat and more;

* February meetup report.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 125 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* The Victim and the Food Safety Team, Daily Harvest Mystery Poisonings > 1 year on;

* A Bird’s Eye View of Global Food Fraud;

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* How Bubblegum is (Really) Made;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 124 🍏

This three minute video explains how to

* navigate The Rotten Apple’s website;

* find the resources you need;

* access the site from emails;

* sign in;

* problem-solve sign-in issues.

🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Erratum(s);

* Save the date: Meet-up on Thursday 8th Feb (Friday for AU, NZ);

* What’s Coming for The Rotten Apple for 2024 - a podcast, more meetups and…;

* Packaging Corner;

* Case study: Tiramisu Allergen Death - What Went Wrong?

* An important letter from the US embassy;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 123 🍏

Audio versions of The Rotten Apple Newsletter have only been available to paid subscribers up to now. Now they’re available to everyone!

Each episode is 15 to 20 minutes, and nothing fancy…. Just me, Karen, reading out this week’s email, dodgy Aussie accent and all.

Get links to extra information, the food safety news roundup and sources for everything from the online version of each issue.

And don’t forget to ‘like’, ‘follow’ and tell your friends about this podcast.

Episodes drop every Monday. See you then!

Every newsletter publishes a gift guide at this time of year. Here’s my collection of food safety and food fraud-related gifts, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Ultimate food fraud gift: turmeric coconut drink mix

Want to expose your friends and loved ones to almost-guaranteed food fraud? Make them this wholesome ‘Golden Milk Mix’ as a gift. It has seven ingredients, six of which are high risk for food fraud, hooray!

Ultimate food scientist gift: hangover-free wine

Celebrate the wonders of food science, and order your hangover-free wine now (available in the hopefully-not-too-distant-future). Scientists have explored the possibility that the naturally occurring wine pigment quercetin contributes to morning-after headaches by reducing alcohol metabolism and allowing the build-up of acetaldehyde. If they’re right, wine hangovers could be a thing of the past (yay).

Ultimate foreign object gift: frog bread enamel pin/badge

Celebrate the joys of physical contamination in bakery items with a cute frog bread enamel pin (‘badge’) for your loved one. You could even accompany it with a loaf of bread shaped like a frog, because frog-shaped bread is a thing.

Ultimate labelling error gifts

Labelling errors are the leading cause of food recalls in most countries, and pose serious risks to consumers. Don’t miss out on the action: contribute to the problem by giving your friends and family mislabelled food items, including unauthorised prescription wine, pun-heavy ketchup and misleading sweets.

Ultimate gifts for the person who has it all

Still don’t know what to buy that special person in your life? Why not give them a jar of honey from Rare Harvest. With “mocha-infused” flavours, it costs just £1,300 and is sure to delight.

Hint: as a high UMF Manuka honey this gift is also ultra-vulnerable to fraudulent adulteration and misrepresentation (bonus).

Or just celebrate the silliness of the season with a chocolate prawn or a tree decoration made from a real chicken nugget.

Thanks for reading The Rotten Apple’s ultimate food fraud and food safety gift guide. Enjoy this season’s shopping chores and remember, contamination and adulteration are the gifts that just keep giving.

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* What’s new in food safety culture systems;

* Haphazard analysis - we can do better

* Food crime or fun recipe, you decide (just for fun);

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 162 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Winner of the Food Safety Escape Room competition;

* The lost art of auditing outcomes;

* Salmonella outbreak unpacked;

* Worst fast food launches (just for fun).

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 161 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Special edition for World Food Day;

* Competition: Food Safety Escape Room.

🍏 To view the original post, see Issue 160 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Spotlight on Shigella;

* Superweeds (super bad);

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* Why people knowingly buy fakes;

* Food fraud news, emerging risks and recent incidents.

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 159 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Boar’s Head Criminal Investigation?

* How millions of tonnes of organic produce were affected by years of fraud in the fertiliser industry;

* AI Mushroom Guidebooks (what could possibly go wrong?);

* What I’m reading;

🍏 For a transcript and links to all sources, see Issue 158 🍏

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Special offer: upgrade for one year and get a second year free, saving $100 (Get the special offer here)

* What changed in food safety in 2024?

* Food Safety News and Resources;

* What I learned: the worst and weirdest of the year;

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 169 🍏

Cover image: K. Hall (2024) ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05290064, via Food Politics

The Rotten Apple is an inside view of food safety, food fraud and supply chains for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends.

🍏 In this episode 🍏

* Tomato fraud by big name retailers? - a BBC investigation leaves more questions than answers;

* Throwback: Bananas in Peril;

* That’s interesting: sugar taxes actually work?

🍏 For a transcript and sources see Issue 168 🍏

Cover image: An AI image maker imagines tomato puree production