Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole

Pep Nexus, LLC
  • 5.0 (8)
  • PERSONAL JOURNALS

Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole is a raw, honest, and surprisingly light listen about a serious subject: the failures that still threaten the safety of the food we eat. Hosted by Dr. Darin Detwiler—a man who turned personal tragedy into decades of public advocacy—and his wife Gennette Zimmer; this podcast pulls no punches. Together, they unpack the moments when speaking up wasn’t popular, but absolutely necessary. From the lens of experiencing every day food safety failures, Darin shares what it’s really like to challenge the system from the inside out. Equal parts storytelling, reflection, and real talk, Confessions is for anyone who’s ever wondered why preventable tragedies still happen—and what it takes to stop them. Because silence might be easier, but it’s never safer.

Episodes

  1. FEB 6

    Leadership isn't comfortable. Should it be?

    Welcome back. Episode 8 opens 2026 with a single focus: leadership, leadership, and more leadership. When the stakes are high, do leaders rise to the moment, or do they take the easier path that creates bigger problems later? Darin reflects on recent meetings in Washington, D.C. with FDA and USDA officials around recall readiness, using real-world analogies to explore why preparation on paper is not the same as being ready when it counts. Gennette introduces a new recurring segment inspired by a sub-Reddit “Am I the A-Hole?” post, using it to unpack what happens when people who follow the rules become the problem in broken cultures. At the heart of the episode is a gripping conversation sparked by Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, a play the hosts recently explored in a live table read. Its central question feels uncomfortably current: when harm occurs, who truly owns responsibility? The episode closes with a look ahead as Darin shares news about his upcoming TEDx Northeastern University talk and the question that continues to drive his work: “Why didn’t someone stop this?”

    54 min

  2. 12/12/2025

    From Camel Rides to Courage: Wrapping 2025 with Heart

    Episode 7 wraps the year with the kind of energy only this podcast can deliver. Gennette and Darin look back on a whirlwind season and take listeners behind the scenes of Darin’s fourth trip to the Dubai International Food Safety Conference. From camel mishaps to unexpected main-stage moments, the conversation jumps between humor, travel memories, and the deeper truth that food safety always follows them home. This episode also brings something special. Darin gathered New Year’s resolutions from food safety leaders across the globe, creating a rapid-fire chorus of voices calling for stronger culture, smarter monitoring, and more shared responsibility. It’s a reminder that progress isn’t something one person drives. It’s something the entire community builds together. And as a year-end gift, the final 15 minutes feature Darin’s full Dubai keynote, a powerful talk about invisible risks, leadership, responsibility, and why the future of food safety depends on both innovation and human courage. It’s the perfect sendoff for 2025 and a strong spark for the year ahead.   Click to read A Food Safety Carol, published in New Food Magazine.

    1h 1m

  3. 11/14/2025

    We Swear This Is About Food Safety

    Four Horseman and Dolly and Poop Podcast! OH MY! This episode is a full-on poo-poo platter: part chaos, part confessional, and part tribute to the people holding the line in food safety. Darin and Gennette debrief from the Food Safety Consortium, where Darin joined the “Four Horsemen” panel of Poisoned voices. They talk documentary aftermath, public apathy, and going viral for all the wrong reasons. Plus, U.S. Air Force vet Kris Newton joins to share how military discipline translates into food safety leadership and what it means to speak up, even if it makes you the a**hole in the room. Toss in a few reality TV health code meltdowns, a Dolly drag parade in Nashville, and a lapdog in an LA restaurant, and you’ve got one unforgettable episode. Links: Don't Eat Poop! Podcast Food Safety Chat Live! QA Magazine (More about Kris Newton and other veterans in food safety)

    45 min

  4. 10/24/2025

    Darin's Journey From Reactor Rooms to Recall Culture

    In Episode 05 of Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole, Gennette turns the mic on her co-host, Dr. Darin Detwiler, for a deep-dive (literally) into the making of his serialized New Food Magazine story, Silent Enemies. It’s part interview, part retrospective, part "what was I thinking?" and all about the invisible forces that shape both our food systems and our sense of responsibility. From submarine reactor rooms to food safety policy, Darin unpacks the unexpected ways military life trained him for an advocacy career he never saw coming. The episode weaves personal story with cultural critique, revealing the shared DNA between life below sea level and the high-stakes work of protecting the food supply: invisible threats, moral conviction, and the pressure to act before it’s too late. This one is reflective, geeky, heartfelt, and anchored in legacy. It also hints at a hidden pattern in the story titles themselves—so if you’re a fan of breadcrumbs, Darin’s leaving you one. Silent Enemies Part 1 Silent Enemies Part 2 Silent Enemies Part 3

    33 min

  5. 10/03/2025

    The Podcast, the Past, and the Produce

    In Episode 04 of Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler open with a check-in and an invitation behind the scenes. They reflect on what it means to be four episodes in, the surprising ways listeners are responding, and the purpose that keeps them showing up (even when things go off script). The conversation flows into a thoughtful unpacking of their “Four A’s” framework: awareness, allies, advocacy, and activism. Darin shares a personal moment of wrestling with the limits of his own advocacy, while Gennette brings it back to a long drive where the whole framework took shape. It's reflective, warm, and full of the kind of transparency that sets the tone for the episode’s deeper theme: seeing what usually stays hidden. Then comes a detour featuring an unlikely discussion with early 20th-century activist and journalist Olive Christian Malvery. Our hosts uncover her experiences finding the disturbing practices of how food was produced in England 1906. Malvery shines a light on the persistent gaps between image and reality in food safety, and asks what it really takes to make a system transparent, accountable, and safe. It’s part satire, part history lesson, and all heart. The episode closes with Gennette and Darin getting their boots literally dirty on a field trip to produce farms, a composting business, and a packaging/shipping facility. They talk with the people who are doing food safety not just by the book, but by conviction. It’s a look at the systems that work quietly, often invisibly, to keep food safe and the people who believe transparency is worth the extra work. This episode moves from podcast reflection to performance to produce fields. Along the way, they ask: What does it mean to go behind the curtain and beyond awareness? Links of note: Food Safety Education Month link: https://www.pepnexus.com/blog/categories/food-safety-education-month Silent Enemies Part 1: https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/255304/silent-enemies-part-1-under-pressure/ Silent Enemies Part 2: https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/255304/silent-enemies-part-1-under-pressure/ Olive Christian Malvery - The Soul Market (Read for free): https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Soul_Market/52NGAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

    46 min

  6. 09/12/2025

    The Verdict, the Gloves, and the Gray Area

    In Episode 03 of Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler open with a moment of quiet gravity: the ten-year anniversary of the Peanut Corporation of America trial. They reflect on what that landmark case meant not just in terms of legal precedent, but in human cost. It’s a sober look at how accountability in food safety is still the exception, not the rule. Later, Darin and Gennette are excited to interview their FIRST GUEST. They’re joined by Steve Ardagh, CEO and co-founder of Eagle Protect, for a conversation that starts with gloves but zooms out to something much bigger. In the lead-up to Global Glove Safety Day on September 18, Steve breaks down the science of contamination at the microscopic level and makes the case that gloves when poorly constructed or improperly sourced aren’t just ineffective, they can actively contribute to contamination. He explains how high-quality gloves, backed by traceability and testing, can be a vital part of the solution but only if we stop treating all gloves as equal. The conversation touches on manufacturing transparency, regulatory blind spots, and the urgent need for industry-wide awareness around something most people take for granted. The episode wraps with some big-picture reflections: on how safety is both a personal and public act, and on the uncomfortable truth that sometimes the most dangerous thing is not what's on someone’s hands but what’s on their conscience. For more information about Global Glove Safety Day on September 18, 2025 go to https://eagleprotect.com/pages/glove-safety-day. Also on September 18, 2025 - don't forget that the first installment of Silent Enemies will be published on New Food Magazine https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/

    46 min

  7. 08/22/2025

    Lunch Meat and Legacy

    In Episode 02 of Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler dive into the strange dualities of this work—how legacy sometimes shows up in the form of a bad buffet, and how an awkward moment in a banquet hall can become a defining memory. From fielding fan selfies at a food safety conference to being recognized by a comedian at a random show in LA, the conversation become a reflection on what it means when your work leaves a mark—especially when the people you're impacting are younger than the length of your career. This episode explores vulnerability, storytelling, and the impact of simply being “the person who says something.” Also in this episode: impromptu interviews on what other people think a “food safety a**hole” really is (spoiler: not always flattering), a memory from 1993 featuring an un-refrigerated lunch spread, the support of the Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a surprising meditation on how food safety conversations can start long before—or long after—anyone thinks they matter. This one's about voice. About speaking up. And about what it means when people remember. To learn more about the upcoming article Silent Enemies appearing in New Food magazine in September (mentioned in this episode), check out the additional content at pepnexus.com/silent.

    44 min

  8. 07/29/2025

    What exactly IS a Food Safety A**Hole?

    In this kickoff episode, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler pull back the curtain on what it really means to be a “food safety a-hole”—and why that label, while uncomfortable, might actually be a badge of honor. Darin shares his deeply personal origin story: the 1993 E. coli outbreak that took the life of his young son and catapulted him into a decades-long career advocating for safer food practices. The conversation is equal parts heart-wrenching, candid, and oddly funny, as the duo discusses awkward restaurant confrontations, the fine art of speaking up without shaming, and how grief reshapes the kind of person you're willing to become. This episode isn’t about cooking temps or properly pronouncing bacteria names. It’s about the human stakes behind food safety, the moral calculus of calling things out, and what it means to keep showing up—even when it makes other people uncomfortable. It’s also about nachos. Kind of.

    47 min
  • 8 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole is a raw, honest, and surprisingly light listen about a serious subject: the failures that still threaten the safety of the food we eat. Hosted by Dr. Darin Detwiler—a man who turned personal tragedy into decades of public advocacy—and his wife Gennette Zimmer; this podcast pulls no punches. Together, they unpack the moments when speaking up wasn’t popular, but absolutely necessary. From the lens of experiencing every day food safety failures, Darin shares what it’s really like to challenge the system from the inside out. Equal parts storytelling, reflection, and real talk, Confessions is for anyone who’s ever wondered why preventable tragedies still happen—and what it takes to stop them. Because silence might be easier, but it’s never safer.

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