Food Safety Matters

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...

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...

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 p...

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 Safe...

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 Ni...

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, produ...

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.   ...

Brian Ronholm, M.A. , is the Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports, where he leads advocacy efforts to advance a safe and healthy food system. He was in public service prior to joining Consumer Reports, having served as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and before that, as a congressional staff person for Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Conne...

Natalie Dyenson, M.P.H. is the Chief Food Safety and Regulatory Officer for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA). She has nearly three decades of experience in food safety that encompasses the entire produce supply chain, from farm to fork. In her role at IFPA, Natalie and her team actively work to guide industry on food safety issues and connect with regulators and policymakers to a...

Brian Sylvester, J.D. , is a Partner in Perkins Coie LLP's Washington D.C. office and a former Attorney-Advisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs Division's Office of the General Counsel. At Perkins Coie, Brian focuses his practice on regulatory matters before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the USDA, the Consumer Product...

Sara Mortimore, M.Sc., FRSPH, MIFST , is the Vice President and Global Subject Matter Expert for Food Safety at Walmart Inc. In her role, Sara is responsible for the global development and oversight of all food safety programs, compliance, and initiatives for the company's 10,500 stores, owned manufacturing facilities, and distribution and fulfilment centers. This includes the supplier and supply...

In this episode of Food Safety Matters , we review the top food safety stories of 2023 and their implications. Specifically, we discuss: Developments in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) restructuring of its Human Foods Program and Office of Regulatory Affairs Ongoing concerns around infant formula safety and supply, including new regulations and guidelines, and how the crisis served...

Sherry Brice, M.B.A. is Chief Supply Chain Officer at W.K. Kellogg Co. She was formerly Vice President of Global Quality and Food Safety at the Kellogg Company, overseeing end-to-end food safety and quality for Kellogg's internal and external network. Sherry has over 20 years of experience in the industry and joined Kellogg in 2012 as part of the Pringles acquisition from Procter & Gamble. She has...

Matt Brosseau founded Path Forward Consulting LLC in early 2022 after spending a decade working as an engineer and operations manager in the powdered infant formula industry. He has spent the majority of his career installing and qualifying equipment manufacturing facilities for tools utilized in the manufacture and packaging of FDA-regulated products. Matt is also a U.S. Army veteran, and served...

Blake Harris, CSCP, is a specialist in standards and process enhancement, digital solution development, and implementation, with more than a decade of experience in supply chain-related functions within the private sector and at non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He places high value on tackling complex issues to create efficient and uncomplicated solutions. As the Technical Director at the In...

Justyce Jedlicka  serves as the Food and Beverage Regulatory Liaison in North America for MilliporeSigma, where she is responsible for engaging with influencers in the food and beverage industry to align initiatives with regulatory compliance and promote best practices for food safety and quality testing methods. Justyce has been serving the food and beverage industry since 2013, and received both...

Kathy Knutson, Ph. D., PCQI , is the Founder of Kathy Knutson Food Safety Consulting LLC, an author, and the Chair of the Education Committee for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), with expertise in the fields of bacteriology, food science, and education. She speaks, writes, and trains on U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act (FDA FSMA) compliance, and has...

Yinqing Ma, Ph. D. , is the Director of Compliance Policy Staff in the Office of Compliance at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA's CFSAN). Dr. Ma leads the development and implementation of compliance policies, initiatives, and programs for CFSAN-regulated products. She also co-leads food allergens and economic adulteration initiatives at CFS...

Lise Korsten , Ph. D. is the Co-Director of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) in the Center of Excellence in Food Security at the University of Pretoria in South Africa . She is also responsible for the food safety and regulatory control programs within the DSI-National Research Foundation (NRF) Center of Excellence in Food Security and actively interacts with other researchers in var...

Barbara Masters, D.V.M. , is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food, and Agriculture at Tyson Foods Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support to the enterprise and gives oversight to the Office of Animal Welfare. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Partnership for Food Safety Education, the Center for Foodborne Illness, and the Steering Committee of the Global Foo...

Patrick Guzzle, M.P.H., M.A. is the Vice President of Food Science for the National Restaurant Association. He has been involved in retail food safety for over 20 years, since his wife contracted Escherichia coli O157:H7. Patrick's career in food safety began as an Environmental Health Specialist in the Southeastern Idaho Public Health District. He later became the Environmental Health Supervisor...

Britanny Saunier, M.P.A. is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE). She focuses on leveraging PFSE's historical leadership in cross-sector collaboration and ensuring organizational effectiveness to realize PFSE's mission to develop and promote effective education programs to reduce foodborne illness risk for consumers. Britanny began as an intern at PFSE in 2011...

Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed. , is a food safety academic, advisor, advocate, and author with a 30-year history of working to control foodborne illness. After losing his son, Riley, to a foodborne Escherichia coli infection in 1993, Dr. Detwiler was invited by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to collaborate on consumer education. He has since been appointed twice to the U.S. Department of Agricu...

Kris de Smet, D.V.M. , is the Head of the Food Hygiene Team under the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety at the European Commission. Dr. de Smet graduated as a Veterinary Doctor in 1987, and from 1988–1992, he was a Researcher at the University of Ghent, Belgium in the faculty of Veterinary Science. From 1992–2001, he was employed in the private sector, being mainly involved in veterin...

Andre Pierce joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2022 as the Retail Food Protection Division Director in the Office of State Cooperative Programs (OSCP). He came to FDA with 34 years of experience at a local health department, where he built relationships, shared knowledge, and promoted quality improvement through the Voluntary Retail Program Standards. Andre earned his B...