Morrine Omolo, Ph.D., is a Compliance Specialist with the Quality Assurance Team at JonnyPops LLC. Prior to this position, she worked as a Food Safety Extension Specialist in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. She obtained her Ph.D. in Food Science from the same department in 2020. Dr. Omolo's doctoral research focused on characterizing small-scale food producers in Minnesota, to better understand the private and public value of extension food safety education. She focused on food safety regulations applicable to cottage food producers, food protection managers, and fresh produce farmers. She earned her B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2012 and her M.S. degree in Food Science from the University of Minnesota in 2015. Dr. Omolo is passionate about bridging the gap between science and practice, and values active learning as an approach to increasing awareness of foodborne illness. She consistently strives to find a balance between the application of scientific knowledge and the natural predispositions in human behavior. Dr. Omolo hopes to continue contributing to the field of food safety science by finding creative ways to align regulatory requirements for food safety with the realities of food production and consumption.
The highly regulated food industry has recently reached major milestones in its food safety culture journey. In addition to general acceptance of the key concepts, a unified language and framework has been developed. The local food movement is characterized by short supply chains, typically involving direct sales to consumers. The majority of businesses in this category have a handful of employees and include small-scale farmers and processors, as well as cottage food producers. The concepts of food safety culture are at the infancy stage, gaining traction as the rest of the food industry settles into the new normal of behavior-based food safety practice. This article explores the question: To what extent do the established food safety culture cornerstones apply to the local food segment of the food industry?
