Dr. Ben Chapman is an associate professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. He received a Ph.D. in plant agriculture in 2009 from the University of Guelph. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman. His research interests include consumer, retail and food safety culture, home food preservation and communicating food safety risk reduction messages. He is a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Food Law professional development group and Outreach Education professional development group and the Carolinas Association for Food Protection. He currently co-chairs the North Carolina Fresh Produce Safety Task Force and is a member of the editorial boards of Food Protection Trends and the British Food Journal. He is the chair of the Risk Communication subgroup for the North Carolina Governor’s Task Force on Food.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Ben Chapman about:

• Supporting local retail, foodservice and consumer food safety through NC State Extension
• Co-founding Barfblog with Doug Powell and how it supports food safety efforts
• Emerging of niche markets like petting zoos and agritourism
• Developing NC State’s Master Food Volunteer program
• Working in food safety as a career
• Researching cookbooks for food safety instructions made Ben famous for two days
• Translating and communicating risk to consumers and businesses
• Using social media to arm the right people with the right messages
• Starting the Food Safety Talk podcast with Don Schaffner
• Using reality-based research
• Developing social media projects to engage citizen scientists

Ben Chapman's articles published in Food Safety Magazine
Crisis Management: How to Handle Outbreak Events (June-July 2012)
Food Safety for Food Handlers (December 2010-January 2011)

Resources Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Issues New FSMA Guidance for Exempt Canned Foods, Juice and Seafood
New FDA Guidance Document Clarifies FSMA’s Sanitary Transportation Rule
FAO to consider World Food Safety Day
New Data Ranks Food Safety  at America’s Baseball Stadiums 
Seven Filthy Food Habits and How Dirty They Really Are

In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Jenny Du, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Apeel Sciences, about Apeel—a clean alternative to traditional post-harvest produce coatings and treatments—its transparent approach to disrupting an $11 billion industry.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Sandro Tarchini of the Cardano Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the blockchain ecosystem, about the applications for blockchain throughout the food supply chain and how it can improve farm-to-retail traceability and transparency.

Suzette Stalker is Director of FSQA Program Compliance at FreshRealm Inc. Formerly, she served as Director of Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory compliance at Target Corporation. At Target, Suzette was responsible for food safety standards and programs, covering nearly 2,000 stores and more than 60 supply chain facilities. Her work encompassed owned brand supplier manufacturing facilities, product labeling, produce farms, supply chain facilities, retail stores, and managing food recalls. Previously, Suzette led teams to develop and execute comprehensive internal audits of food safety and operational risks across Target. 

Sabrina Terada is the Manager for Food Safety Risk Management and Measurement at Yum! Brands. She is a seasoned professional in food safety and quality assurance with extensive experience at Yum! Brands, where her roles have included Manager of Global Food Safety Risk Management and Measurement and Manager of Global FSQA. In these positions, Sabrina held responsibilities supporting the Food Safety Governance Framework, coaching, and assisting business units with crisis management. 

Chris McGarvey is the Director of the Regulatory and Compliance Team for Walker Morris LLP in the UK. He has more than 25 years of experience working in both the private and public sector, and has a track record of helping clients navigate complex legal challenges in areas of highly regulated economic activity. Chris specializes in food law and led the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) Legal Team through Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain challenges associated with the Ukraine conflict. Chris' typical clients are Directors, Senior Managers, and specialists, particularly food scientists, who demand quick, accessible, and accurate advice. His work often has national reach and spans all four nations of the UK.

Kye Luker serves as the Chief Product Officer at FlexXray, where he leads development of the company's innovative X-ray inspection process and technology. With more than two decades of experience in the service, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and food and beverage industries, Kye brings a wealth of knowledge in continuous improvement, quality assurance, and formulations to his role.

Richard (Rick) Stier, M.S. is a consulting food scientist who has helped food processors develop safety, quality, and sanitation programs. He believes in emphasizing the importance of how these programs can help companies increase profits. Rick comes from a family background in food science, with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) establishing an award in his mother's name—the Humanitarian Award for Service to the Science of Food in honor of Elizabeth Fleming Stier. Rick holds degrees in food science from Rutgers University and the University of California at Davis. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Food Safety Magazine.