HIGHLIGHTS
Food Safety Matters is the podcast for food safety professionals, hosted by Food Safety Magazine—the leading media brand in food safety for over 20 years. Each episode features a conversation with a food safety professional sharing their experiences and insights on the important job of safeguarding the world’s food supply. New episodes are posted twice per month; a selection of our recent episodes are highlighted below.
Episode 150:
Sarah Gallo, Vice President of Product Policy, Consumer Brands Association (CBA)
Sarah breaks down the efforts she's leading at CBA to push for modernization at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as CBA's support for key structural changes within FDA’s food program management as they relate to enhancing food safety. Some of the issues discussed are inspection modernization, recall modernization, labeling modernization, new collaborative models between FDA and industry for guidance development, and modernized approaches for chemicals management in food packaging. Also featured is a conversation with Dr. Emilio Esteban, Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA's Office of Food Safety, that was recorded at IAFP 2023 in Toronto, Canada.
Episode 149:
Steven Lyon, Ph.D., Director, Food Safety–Field Operations, Chick-fil-A Inc.
In this episode, Steven breaks down the various roles he's held at Chick-fil-A and the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the years, including achievements and lessons learned. He also shares details about some of the innovative technologies Chick-fil-A uses to identify and mitigate food safety risks and enhance the customer experience at its restaurants. Additionally, Steven discusses some of the biggest food safety challenges in foodservice today and the value proposition offered by a strong food safety culture.
Episode 148:
Tracy Fink, Director, Scientific Programs and Science and Policy Initiatives, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
IFT offers a wealth of food science and food safety research and resources for its worldwide member base, as well as an annual conference, IFT FIRST. In this episode, Tracy discusses the food safety programs at IFT, including resources such as commodity-specific traceability videos to help the food industry comply with FSMA 204 and expertise on allergen control. She also previews the technical discussions and scientific program highlighted at IFT FIRST from July 16–19 in Chicago.
Episode 147:
Angela Fernandez, Vice President, Community Engagement, GS1 U.S.
In light of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's work to support improved food traceability and safety with the release of FSMA 204 in November 2022, along with tech-enabled traceability initiatives under the New Era for Smarter Food Safety, there are many new requirements and opportunities for companies to shore up their product traceability and visibility throughout the supply chain. In this episode, Angela explains how GS1 U.S. standards can assist food manufacturers with those efforts.
Bonus Episode:
Christopher Waldrop, M.P.H., Senior Health Scientist, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Director, Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness
FDA and Stop Foodborne Illness co-host an ongoing webinar series on food safety culture, "Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety." The most recent webinar was held live at the Food Safety Summit on May 11 (watch it on YouTube here). In this episode, listen to Chris and Vanessa discuss FDA and Stop Foodborne Illness' ongoing collaboration in food safety education. They also explain how the measurement of culture is key to understanding its impact and effectiveness, and also essential for "selling" the concept of food safety culture to corporate leadership.
