Food Safety Matters Food Safety Magazine

Alissa Welsher, Ph.D. is an 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:
How industry’s understanding of pest management’s role in food safety has evolved in recent years Why pests are often an overlooked source of foodborne pathogens like Salmonella, and why darkling beetles, in particular, are important to consider as a possible contributor to Salmonella Insights on the darkling beetle, where darkling beetles are typically found, and how beetles can transmit disease The initiation and execution of a study that showed a correlation between beetle populations and Salmonella load in poultry flocks Current indicators of pre-harvest Salmonella load and how those indicators are managed, and why beetles can be a possible indicator of pre-harvest Salmonella load Actions producers can take to gain control of pest presence on farm How the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service' (USDA-FSIS') framework to reduce cases of salmonellosis attributable to poultry may lead to producers prioritizing integrated pest management. Sponsored by:
Elanco

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Francine Shaw, CP-FS, FMP, is a food safety specialist, podcaster, speaker, entrepreneur, the Founder and CEO of Savvy Food Safety Inc., and the author of Who Watches the Kitchen? She has spent more than 30 years working in the foodservice industry and is committed to constantly evolving in the ever-changing landscape of foodservice. Her career has included performing services—such as operating partner, corporate/private trainer, health inspector, third-party inspector, and adjunct professor—in various sectors of the foodservice industry. Francine has also written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines and appeared on Dr. Oz, the BBC World Series Radio, and iHeart Radio as a food safety expert.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Francine [40:38] about:
The importance of incorporating real-life anecdotes into food safety education to make it relatable and engaging to the audience The need for open discussions about real-world experiences in industry to address and correct issues effectively How performance rating systems can help identify and address problem areas or employees within a foodservice organization Why it is important to take a step back to understand the root causes of problems, rather than simply “putting out fires” Common mistakes foodservice businesses make related to their sanitation and hygiene practices, and possible solutions to address these pitfalls Technologies that can help improve food safety, and why it is important to embrace technology to keep up with regulatory demands and improve efficiency The lack of gender diversity in the food safety sector, and Francine’s personal experiences as a woman and an advocate for gender equality in the industry. News and Resources
FDA Deputy Commissioner Details how FY 2025 Funds Will be Spent on Human Foods Priorities [4:08]
Codex Meeting Ties Up Loose Ends on Newly Adopted Guidelines, Proposes New Work [11:50]
Chick-fil-A Changes Antibiotic Use Policy for Chicken [14:09]
Tyson Drops “No Antibiotics Ever” Label From Some Chicken Products
Scientists Find Listeria, Microbial Populations Remain Stable Despite Cleaning at RTE Food Production Facilities [18:09]
Novel Technology Shows Promise as Scalable PFAS Decontamination Method for Water [20:42]
“Food Safety Insights: Rapid Testing Methods—The Future” [27:26]
Who Watches the Kitchen? Book
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James (Jim) Jones joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2023 as the agency's first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods. In this position, he leads the charge in setting and advancing priorities for a proposed, unified Human Foods Program, which includes food safety, chemical safety, and nutrition activities. He currently oversees the leadership of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and the Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR), until the proposed Human Foods Program reorganization is implemented.
Jones came to FDA with intimate knowledge of the Human Foods program, having served on the Reagan-Udall Foundation's Independent Expert Panel that evaluated the program in 2022. He has decades of leadership experience and a track record of forging partnerships among diverse stakeholders and achieving dynamic results to improve public health. He previously served as a federal regulator of pesticides, toxic substances, chemical safety, and pollution prevention at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and made public health-based decisions grounded in sound science, public policy, and law. He was also a principal architect of the 2016 overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act and led several national-level sustainability programs, including the Environmental Preferable Purchasing Program and the Presidential Green Chemistry Awards Challenge.
From 2017–2020, Jones worked for the Household and Commercial Products Association as Executive Vice President for Strategic Alliances and Industry Relations. He then ran his own company advising clients on issues related to chemical safety and sustainability. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Jim [23:20] about:
How his past experiences reviewing FDA’s Human Foods Program with the Reagan-Udall Foundation and working at EPA prepared him for his new role at FDA The importance of stakeholder engagement from the very beginning of decision-making processes The value and takeaways of the field tours that Jim has been making at industry and agency sites across the country How the work being conducting at FDA laboratories ties into FDA’s broader Human Foods Program goals The role of public interest entities in keeping the system honest and ensuring transparency, and the need for all stakeholder groups to collaborate with FDA to represent their interests Jim and FDA's collaboration with the FDA Foods Coalition, which was formed in October 2023 by a diverse group of stakeholders to advocate for an effective Human Foods Program The emerging patchwork of state regulations on food additives, and FDA’s desire to get ahead of state regulations with a more ambitious chemical safety agenda How the proposed Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation will handle chemical safety assessments in the future Recent public health events caused by the contamination of certain foods for infants and young children, and FDA's work with manufacturers of these foods to ensure food safety and maintain supply volumes FDA's Closer to Zero initiative to reduce heavy metals in baby foods and recent state bills that would require routine testing of baby foods by manufacturers, and how these legislative moves could be helpful to FDA The Food Safety Summit Town Hall on May 9, 2024, in Rosemont, Illinois, where Jim will participate as part of a panel of top food safety regulators and advisors including USDA, CDC, and AFDO. News and Resources
Missouri, Washington Introduce Bills to Ban Same Food Additives as California Food Safety Act [5:11]
California Bill Looks to Ban Artificial Dyes, Titanium Dioxide From Foods Served in Public Schools [5:52]
Pennsylvania is Latest State to Introduce Food Additives Legislation, While Kentucky Urges FDA to Take Control

Robert (Bob) Manning, M.B.A., M.S., M.E.M., has worked in the food and beverage industry for over 25 years in various facility and senior corporate positions. He is currently CEO of Liquid, and formerly worked as Vice President of Technical Operations at Niagara Bottling. He has spent most of his time in Operations and Quality roles for large companies such as HP Hood LLC, Campbell's Soup, and Niagara Bottling, as well as consulting for major domestic and international firms.
Bob is also the author of In the Midst of a Recall: Recall Management and Prevention Strategies in Real World Scenarios, which walks the reader through what actually happens in a major product recall, and he uses his website, Manning Resource, to provide helpful tips to prevent recalls.
Throughout his career, Bob has led multiple investigations into product retrievals, market withdrawals, and recalls associated with various manufacturing defects and failures. He has extensive knowledge of plant operations and quality systems and has led numerous investigations to identify the mode of failure and put actions in place to prevent future failures.
Bob holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Salem State University. After graduating and while working full-time, Bob managed to earn three master's degrees: an M.B.A. and a master's degree in engineering management from Western New England University, and a master's degree in food safety from Michigan State University. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in strategic management and executive leadership at Pennsylvania State University.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Bob [26:23] about:
His career in the food and beverage industry and how his experience in quality assurance, operations, and plant management prepared him for recall and crisis management The importance of having a recall management plan, and how mock recalls can help test and refine such plans Establishing an escalation process and ensuring a properly staffed and prepared recall coordination team How everything said is “on the record,” as well as best practices to help companies communicate responsibly Working with and selecting external expert advisors during a recall investigation How to avoid making mistakes when restarting production after a food safety event has been resolved Why businesses should use mock recalls to test their traceability systems as the Food Traceability Final Rule compliance date nears Preventing future recalls by conducting thorough failure mode investigations and implementing effective solutions. News and Resources
FDA Seeks $7.2 Billion Budget for 2025, a 7.4 Percent Increase [3:50]
Another Bill Introduced in New York to Expand State Regulation of Food Additives [10:01]
EU Poised to Make Sweeping Changes to Food Packaging Requirements, Includes PFAS Ban [13:58]
New WHO Alliance for Food Safety to Increase Global Capacity for Foodborne Illness Surveillance [20:10]
World Food Safety Day 2024 Urges Everyone to "Prepare for the Unexpected" [21:21]
Manning Resource LLC
Register for the 2024 Food Safety Summit!
Taking place May 6–9, 2024 in Rosemont, Illinois. Register before March 31 for a 10% early bird discount rate, plus use promo code “FSMatters15” for an extra 15% off registration. Yes, that’s a total discount of 25%!
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Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com

Brittany Sambol is the Vice President of Operations at Wildtype Foods, where she is responsible for leading the scale-up of the company’s operations function, including product commercialization and manufacturing facility expansion. Prior to joining Wildtype, Brittany spent six years at Clif Bar & Company, leading in various areas including supply chain and contract manufacturing management, product innovation and scale-up, and sustainable packaging development. Earlier in her career, Brittany worked as a chemical engineer and then spent over 12 years directly leading manufacturing operations in the CPG industry. 
Khyati Shah, Ph.D. is an esteemed molecular biologist with a distinguished career spanning over ten years in the development and promotion of innovative pathogen testing of products for the food and beverage industry. Serving as a global product manager for the Food and Beverage segment of the Life Sciences business of MilliporeSigma, Dr. Shah is instrumental in creating and spearheading the product roadmap for the cultured meat and alternative protein business. With MilliporeSigma's strong focus on providing research and development (R&D) to scale-up solutions in this emerging industry, Dr. Shah enables cost-effective, sustainable, and efficient supply chain solutions to bring cultured meat and seafood products to market. 
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Brittany and Dr. Shah about:
Wildtype Foods' origin story How MilliporeSigma is supporting the cultured meat space from R&D to scale-up Wildtype Foods' scale-up journey Key challenges that may be encountered during scale-up Solutions and support MilliporeSigma can provide during scale-up. Sponsored by:
MilliporeSigma
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Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com

Jason Richardson, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Global Quality and Food Safety of The Coca-Cola Company, a position he has held since January 2021. In this role, Jason leads a team of quality and food safety professionals who are accountable for delivering global strategic and operational leadership for performance and progress of quality and food safety programs across the Coca-Cola system.  
Jason joined The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 2009, holding a variety of quality, food safety, and technical leadership positions within Coca-Cola North America over the course of his career. Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Jason spent over seven years as a Microbiologist/Collateral Duty Safety Officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA’s ARS), conducting research on sanitizers, novel technologies, standard and rapid microbiological detection methods, and the ecology of bacterial foodborne pathogens in foods, achieving more than 150 peer-reviewed publications.  
Jason serves or has served on numerous committees and advisory boards during his career, including SSAFE, Consumer Brands Association, the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety Board of Advisories and its College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean's Industry Advisory Council, USDA's Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force, and USDA's Committee on Feasibility of "zero tolerance" for Salmonella on raw poultry. He is currently serving as Treasurer for SSAFE. He is active in professional associations, including IAFP, where he serves on several professional development groups.   
Jason obtained his B.S.A. and M.S. degrees, as well as his Ph.D., from the University of Georgia, focusing in Agribusiness, Poultry Science, and Food Science and Technology, with emphases in Food Microbiology and Food Safety.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Jason [23:58] about:
The evolution of his career, from food safety microbiologist to corporate business leader The development and implementation of Coca-Cola’s Amplify Quality Framework, an initiative led by Jason to revamp the company’s food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) programs to optimize enterprise-wide performance and growth How Jason balances both food safety and quality assurance through his leadership and with the help of his FSQA teams Initiatives Jason is working on to refresh Coca-Cola’s food safety culture, and messaging and methods he uses to reinforce good food safety culture throughout the company How Jason contextualizes FSQA as an asset to business performance and growth Balancing cost optimization with FSQA efforts Words of advice for early-career food safety professionals who will be the FSQA leaders of the future. News and Resources
FDA Publishes Report About On-Farm Investigations, Sampling of Leafy Greens in Salinas Valley [4:24]
AMR Trends can be Reversed by Decreasing Antimicrobial Use, EU Agencies Report [9:39]
Researchers Call for Improved Surveillance of Yersinia, an Underestimated Threat to Food Safety [16:23]
USDA Develops Egg Pasteurization Technology That Rapidly Kills 99.999 Percent of Salmonella [19:09]
Register for the 2024 Food Safety Summit!
Taking place May 6–9, 2024 in Rosemont, Illinois. Register before March 31 for a 10% early bird discount rate, plus use promo code “FSMatters15” for an extra 15% off registration. Yes, that’s a total discount of 25%!
Sponsored by:
Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program 
We Want to Hear from You!
Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com