Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) has announced that its CEO, Mitzi Baum, M.Sc., will step down from her role by the end of 2024. STOP has expressed gratitude for Mitzi’s leadership and collaborative spirit.

Mitzi joined STOP as CEO in May 2019 after a 23-year career leading food safety for Feeding America, and before that, working in the restaurant industry. Mitzi brought deep food safety knowledge to her role, passion for STOP’s mission and constituents, and zeal for collaboration with anyone who shares STOP’s goal of preventing foodborne illness. Mitzi has worked tirelessly and successfully with the staff and board to elevate STOP’s visibility and role as a national voice for food safety.

Mitzi’s leadership has made possible important new vehicles for collaboration on food safety:

• With Mitzi’s leadership, STOP has built an alliance with 20 major food companies to strengthen food safety culture across the food system, working in collaboration with STOP constituents and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• STOP and Mitzi have been instrumental in the consumer-academic-industry coalition that is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and advocating for modernization of regulatory standards for Salmonella in poultry
• On STOP’s behalf, Mitzi co-chairs a new Fresh Produce Coalition that includes major trade associations, consumer groups, and state food safety organizations working together to strengthen both government and industry efforts to prevent produce-related illnesses.

Additionally, on behalf of STOP’s constituents, Mitzi advocated personally, persistently, and successfully to have Cronobacter sakazakii added to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC’s) reportable disease list.

The board is also grateful for Mitzi’s work to make STOP a more visible and strong organization than it was when she arrived. She led development of a new strategic plan and strengthened STOP’s communications program, social media presence, and fundraising, including STOP 3000, an annual National Food Safety Education Month fundraiser.

On her tenure at STOP Mitzi shared, “It has been an honor and privilege to lead Stop Foodborne Illness. I have accomplished the organizational goals that the board and I had defined when I joined STOP; it is time to identify a successor to build upon the growth of the organization and be the next voice for safe food. It is with sincere gratitude that I thank my team and the board for the past five years. I look forward to continuing to work on these issues on behalf of everyone who eats.”

Mitzi will remain the CEO through the end of the year to give the board time to plan and conduct a search for her successor.

To learn about STOP’s and Mitzi’s work, watch this interview from the 2024 Food Safety Summit with Mitzi, as well as with Vanessa Coffman, PhD, Director of The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness.