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 154:
Andre Pierce, M.P.A., R.E.H.S., Director, Retail Food Protection Division, Office of State Cooperative Programs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Glenda Lewis, M.S.P.H., Director, Retail Food Protection Staff, FDA; Patrick Guzzle, M.P.H., Vice President of Food Science and Industry, National Restaurant Association; and Melissa Ham, R.E.H.S., Retail Program Coordinator at Wake County, North Carolina
In this episode, guests from FDA's Food Code team, the National Restaurant Association, and a state retail program discuss 30 years of the Food Code and how trade associations and states work with their members and constituents to implement the Food Code at retail foodservice establishments across the U.S.
Bonus Episode:
Britanny Saunier, M.P.A., Executive Director, Partnership for Food Safety Education and Ashley Eisenbeiser, M.S., C.F.S., Senior Director for Food and Product Safety Programs for FMI, The Food Industry Association
The Partnership for Food Safety Education is a nonprofit organization that works with educators to advocate for safe food handling and preparation practices among consumers. FMI, the Food Industry Association, advocates, educates, and supports the retail sector to advance a safer, healthier consumer food supply chain, and is a partner organization of the Partnership for Food Safety Education. Britanny and Ashley discuss the partnership between their two organizations and how they work together and independently to protect consumer health. They also discuss their organizations' advocacy efforts and resources for U.S. National Food Safety Education Month in September.
Episode 153:
Dr. Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed., food safety academic, advisor, advocate, and author
Dr. Detwiler discusses the U.S. food safety system as portrayed in the 2023 Netflix documentary Poisoned, in which he is prominently featured. With 30 years of food safety advocacy under his belt, Darin was driven to devote his life to food safety education and advancement after losing his son, Riley, during the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. Darin also considers new and emerging food safety challenges of concern and the importance of keeping the true "why" behind food safety—consumer protection—at the forefront of industry efforts.
Episode 152:
Kris de Smet, D.V.M., Head of the Food Hygiene Team, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Dr. de Smet discusses his work with the European Commission's Food Hygiene Team and Codex Alimentarius in areas such as Salmonella mitigation, foodborne illness outbreak preparedness and management, and food safety culture improvement and measurement.
Episode 154:
Andre Pierce, M.P.A., R.E.H.S., Director, Retail Food Protection Division, Office of State Cooperative Programs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; David Morales, Managing Supervisor, Environmental Health Division, Maricopa County, Arizona; and Susan Quam, CAE, IOM, Executive Vice President, Wisconsin Restaurant Association
Andre, David, and Susan collectively discuss the research and application of behavioral science with food employees and regulatory agencies to reduce foodborne illness risk factors at small-scale retail foodservice businesses. Specifically, they address how FDA partners with state and local regulators to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors at retail foodservice establishments through the Food Code and the Retail Program Standards, as well as how smaller foodservice establishments can work to overcome staffing, cost, and training obstacles to uphold food safety standards.
