Food Safety Matters

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 serves on numerous committees and advisory panels related to food science, nutrition, fraud, and policy.   In 2004, the Secretary of Agriculture appointed Detwiler to two terms on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's national advisory committee for meat and poultry inspection. He later advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the Senior Policy Coordinator for a leading national food safety advocacy organization, where his committee work and presentations supported the FDA’s progress towards implementation of Foo

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 happen at any time. The goal of an environmental monitoring program is to verify the effectiveness of contamination control programs, identify microbial harborage sites, and ensure that corrective actions have eliminated organisms such as Listeria from the plant. With the intent of helping to control this ubiquitous pathogen in food processing facilities, Neogen has developed a one-hour Listeria test that features the total elimination of the enrichment process. Neogen’s new Listeria Right Now test is fast and flexible

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 1987 when he moved to the New England Medical Center and became an Associate Professor at Tufts University in Boston, studying the molecular pathogenesis of foodborne pathogens.   Prior to forming The Acheson Group, David served as the Chief Medical Officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and then joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the Chief Medical Officer at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). After serving as the director o

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 Alliance Lead Instructor for Human Foods, an International HACCP Alliance Instructor and is currently President of her own consulting company, PA Wester Consulting, where she utilizes her broad experience in food safety testing and accredited certification auditing to support her food industry client base through the complexities of Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) implementation. In 2017, she launched the Association for Food Safety Auditing Professionals, a 501(C)(3) trade association to provide a platform to support th

This special BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters brings you a discussion about an application of next-generation sequencing — metagenomics.   As the cost of DNA testing decreases, practical applications are increasing, with one of the most exciting applications available being the use of sequencing to identify microorganisms in samples, including unculturable organisms. The value proposition of the 16s metagenomic application is that you can identify spoilage organisms in your facility, eliminate them and reduce the possibility of spoiled products reaching your consumers thus reducing your overall cost of quality.   We will be speaking with Joe Heinzelmann, Director of Business development for food safety genomics at Neogen. Joe began his career as a nanotechnology chemist and has since focused on marketing and business development efforts. He graduated from Albion College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and from Northwood University with an MBA. Joe tells us more about the practical applications of me

Mike Taylor is a senior fellow at the Meridian Institute and an advisor to the Food and Society Program at the Aspen Institute. His primary interests are food safety globally and food security in Africa and other developing regions. Until June 1, 2016, Mr. Taylor was Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He led the comprehensive overhaul of FDA’s food safety program Congress mandated in the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 and oversaw all of FDA’s food-related activities, including its nutrition, labeling, food additive, dietary supplement and animal drug programs. Mr. Taylor served previously at FDA as a staff attorney and as Deputy Commissioner for Policy (1991–1994) and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety (1994–1996). Prior to joining FDA in July 2009, he spent nearly a decade in academia conducting food safety, food security and public

Dr. William Sperber is a renowned food microbiologist who has been appointed five times by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and has been recognized for his pioneering work at the Pillsbury Co. in the development of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety program model. During his career, Dr. Sperber worked for three major food companies—Best Foods, Pillsbury and Cargill—and has become one of the world’s experts in controlling the microbiological safety and quality of foods. A former chair of the IFT Division of Food Microbiology and the Food Microbiology Research Conference, Dr. Sperber was appointed in 2000 to the FAO/WHO roster of experts for microbiological risk assessments. In 2001, the International Association for Food Protection presented Dr. Sperber with the Harold Barnum Industry Award, and in 2002, the American Meat Institute Foundation presented him with its inaugural Scientific Achievement Award.

Dr. Ben Chapman is an associate professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. He received a Ph.D. in plant agriculture in 2009 from the University of Guelph. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers and organizational decision-makers; the gatekeepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a bi-weekly podcast called Food Safety Talk (http://foodsafetytalk.com/)and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman (https://twitter.com/benjaminchapman) His research interests include consumer, retail and food safety culture, home food preservation and communicating food safety risk reduction messages. He is a member of the International Association for Food

Dr. Scott Brooks is the owner of River Run Consulting, LLC, providing food safety, quality, scientific and regulatory affairs services for food and beverage companies in manufacturing, food service and retail. He is the former senior vice president of Quality, Food Safety, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for Kraft Foods. Scott joined Kraft from PepsiCo, where he held the position of vice president of Global Food Safety, Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, and Quality Policy. He joined PepsiCo from Yum! Brands where he was Director of Global Food Safety and Quality Assurance. Scott also held senior quality, food safety and regulatory positions at Food Safety Net Services and at E&J Gallo. He started his career in food safety and quality with the U.S. Air Force as a public health officer and director of Air Force food safety programs. Scott has a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University, as well as a Master’s degree in Food Science/Microbiology and a Master’s degree in Preventive Ve

Joseph Corby worked for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets for 37 years, ultimately retiring in 2008 as the director of the Division of Food Safety and Inspection. He is currently the executive director of the Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO) (http://www.afdo.org/), and he serves on the Board of Directors for the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) (https://ifpti.org/)and the Partnership for Food Safety Education (http://www.fightbac.org/). He is also an Instructor for IFPTI, Louisiana State University, and the University of Tennessee. He has been an outspoken advocate for the advancement of a nationally integrated food safety system and continues to work with numerous groups and associations in support of this cause. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Joe Corby about: The role of AFDO, its history, accomplishments, government relationships, and resources the organization offers to the industry. AFDO involvement with creating an integ

Dr. John Spink is the director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University (MSU) (http://foodfraud.msu.edu/). Over the years, John's research has focused on economically motivated food adulteration, including the use of adulterant substances, counterfeit products, stolen goods, smuggled goods, tampering and intentional mislabeling. His leadership positions include product fraud related activities with the International Organization for Standardization (https://www.iso.org/home.html), Global Food Safety Initiative's (GFSI's) Food Fraud Think Tank (http://www.mygfsi.com/files/Technical_Documents/Food_Fraud_Position_Paper.pdf), and U.S. Pharmacopeia (https://www.foodfraud.org/).  John's global activities include engagements with the European Commission (https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/food-fraud_en), INTERPOL and Operation Opson (https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/food-fraud-joint-europol-interpol-operation-opson-v-results-report), New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (https://www.

  Steve L. Taylor, Ph.D. currently serves as a professor in the Department of Food Science & Technology and founder and co-director of the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP) (http://farrp.unl.edu/) at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Taylor received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in food science and technology from Oregon State University and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California - Davis. Dr. Taylor maintains an active research program in the area of food allergies. Dr. Taylor initiated his professional interest in food allergies and sensitivities in 1980. His primary research interests involve the development of methods for the detection of residues of allergenic foods, the determination of the minimal eliciting doses for specific allergenic foods and their use in quantitative risk assessment, the assessment of the allergenicity of ingredients derived from allergenic sources, and the assessment of the allergenicity of foods produced through agricultural biotechnology. Dr

Lone Jespersen is a principal at Cultivate (http://www.cultivatefoodsafety.com) an organization dedicated to helping food manufacturers globally make safe, great tasting food through cultural effectiveness. Lone has significant experience with food manufacturing, having previously spent 11 years with Maple Leaf Foods. Following the tragic event in 2008 when Maple Leaf products claimed 23 Canadian lives, Lone lead the execution of the Maple Leaf Foods, food safety strategy and its operations learning strategy. Prior to that, Lone worked for Woodbridge Foam as the engineering and operations manager responsible for the safety and quality of automobile safety products. Lone holds a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from Syd Dansk University, Denmark, a Master of food science from the University of Guelph, Canada and is presently pursuing her Ph.D. on Culture Enabled Food Safety with Dr. Mansel Griffiths at the University of Guelph, Canada. Lone currently serves as chair of the Global Food Safety Initiati

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.com/)—a global leader in providing food safety and food technology solutions to the food processing industry for a broad client base of Fortune 500 food companies, academic research institutes, and government agencies. Also, Larry has written and published more than 100 scientific papers and numerous book chapters on food safety, microbiology, and process validation. He is a frequently invited speaker to the food industry, business and scientific conferences, workshops, and seminars.  Larry is an internationally regarded mi

David M. Theno, Ph.D., is currently CEO of Gray Dog Partners, Inc., a Del Mar California-based technical consulting business specializing in food safety, food manufacturing, restaurant operations, supply chain management and strategic planning. Theno is most widely known for the role he assumed with Jack in the Box (JIB) after the fast-food chain experienced a tragic and massive foodborne illness outbreak in 1993. He joined the team as JIB's senior vice president and chief food safety officer, developing a comprehensive Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plan for the chain, as well as a finished product testing protocol that initially irked his former meat industry colleagues. Theno also held previous food safety and quality management roles with Foster Farms, Kellogg’s, Armour Food Company and Peter Eckrich & Sons, Inc. He holds a B.Sc. in zoology and science journalism from Iowa State University and earned both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in food microbiology and animal sciences from the Universit

Food Safety Magazine's editorial team talks about what to expect from our new podcast — Food Safety Matters.