John Spink, Ph.D. is the Director and Lead Instructor for the Food Fraud Prevention Academy, as well as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in the College of Business at Michigan State University (MSU). His food fraud prevention research focuses on policy and strategy to understand and prevent supply chain disruptions and to implement procurement best practices. He is widely published in leading academic journals and has helped lead national and global regulatory and standards activity. More recently, his teaching and research has expanded to supply chain disruption management and procurement best practices.

Roy Fenoff, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at The Military College of South Carolina (The Citadel). He is also a Forensic Handwriting and Document Examiner and an expert in forgery detection. Dr. Fenoff specializes in forgery and document fraud, food fraud and protection, and transnational crime.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Drs. Spink and Fenoff [33:30] about:

• Their recurring workshop and certificate course for the annual Food Safety Summit on food fraud prevention
• What makes food fraud an urgent and misunderstood issue
• The intersections between food safety and food fraud
• Different ways to check for, catch, and trace food fraud
• The elements of a comprehensive food fraud vulnerability assessment 
• Focus areas for companies trying to develop a deep enough understanding of their supply chains and end products to prevent food fraud from occurring
• How to implement a food fraud prevention strategy and management system, which is taught during Drs. Spink and Fenoff’s annual Food Safety Summit course, and how course participants respond to and have applied these teachings within their companies
• What Drs. Spink and Fenoff find both meaningful and challenging about their food fraud prevention and research work.

News and Resources

News

Color Manufacturers Sue West Virginia Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Food Dye Ban [7:08]

California Enacts Law Defining Ultra-Processed Foods, Will Ban UPFs in Schools [14:40]

Reagan-Udall Report Explores Strengthening Cross-Sector Responses to Food Safety Threats [23:09]

Novel Salmonella Vaccine Shows Promise in Clinical Trial [28:57]

Resources

"Ultraprocessed Nation" in the New York Times’ October 20, 2025 “The Morning” newsletter

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