Dr. Hal King is the founder and CEO of Public Health Innovations, an ideation technology and consulting business. 

Hal is a public health professional who has worked in the investigation of foodborne and other disease outbreaks with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He has also performed funded research on causation of diseases at Emory University.

Hal has worked in the prevention of intentional adulteration of foods for U.S. Army Reserves Consequence Management Unit, then on the design and implementation of preventative controls for food safety hazards in the food industry while serving as director of food and product safety at Chick-fil-A.

Hal is past chairman of the National Restaurant Association Quality Assurance Executive Study Group, past board member of the National Council of Chain Restaurants and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CDC Industry Partnerships, and past President of the Georgia Association for Food Protection an affiliate of the International Association of Food Protection.

Hal’s company, Public Health Innovations developed The Food Safety Lab, a website that facilitates open access to best practices in food safety for the food industry.  

He is the co-author and author of several food safety articles including numerous peer-reviewed research publications on the science of food safety and public health, holds several U.S. Patents and Patent Pending technologies. He has also authored several books including:
Food Safety Management: Implementing a Food Safety Program in a Food Retail Business and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls Improving Food Safety in Human Food Manufacturing for Food Businesses

He is now writing a new book to help the industry ensure food safety in restaurant operations called Active Managerial Control: Implementing Food Safety Management Systems in a Retail Food Service Business.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Hal King about:

• How to design a food safety management system that can enable control of risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness
• His time at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and how it helped him to understand food safety management
• How and where food safety hazards occur in the restaurant environment
• Turnover in the foodservice industry, and how it can be a setback in terms of food safety
• How health inspections work and the important role they play in food safety
• HACCP in a restaurant environment vs. in a food manufacturing facility
• Food hazards that get the most--and least--attention at the restaurant level
• Why some restaurant chains are reluctant to implement daily monitoring and other food safety systems
• The top food safety challenge facing restaurants today 
• How spending $10,000 on food safety could potentially save millions in preventing a recall, outbreak, etc.
• How consumers' perceptions of food safety have shifted, according to multiple studies
• Industry vs. consumers: Who bears responsibility when it comes to handling and preparing foods at home?
• Educational and career advice for young professionals interested in a food safety career

Hal King's Articles Published in Food Safety Magazine:
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Foodservice
Is It Time for a "Kill Step" for Pathogens on Produce at Retail?
Implementing Active Managerial Control Principles in a Retail Food Business
Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Preventive Controls (HARPC): The New GMP for Food Manufacturing
Food Defense Perspectives within a Food Protection Landscape: An Invitation to All Stakeholders

Related Content and Resources:
The Key to a Successful Career in the Food Safety Profession
 

News Mentioned in This Episode
Delta Joins American Airlines in Suspending Use of LAX Kitchen to Listeria
Sonny Perdue's reorganization of USDA on New Food Economy
FDA Releases Small Entity Compliance Guide for the FSMA Sanitary Transportation of Human Food and Animal Food Final Rule

Campbell Mitchell, M.B.A. is Head of Food Safety and Compliance for Kraft Heinz North America. He has more than 30 years of international experience in food safety, quality management, and risk mitigation. Prior to joining Kraft Heinz, Campbell served as Vice President of Quality and Safety at Fairlife LLC, a $4-billion Coca-Cola-owned dairy brand. He has also held senior leadership roles with Kerry Group and Almarai in the Middle East. Additionally, he founded a consultancy that supported Tiger Brands in Africa.

Helena Bottemiller Evich is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Food Fix. She previously led coverage of food and agriculture at POLITICO for nearly a decade, winning numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious George Polk Award for a series on climate change and two James Beard Awards for features on nutrition and science. In 2022, she was a James Beard Award finalist for a deep dive on diet-related diseases and COVID-19. Helena is also a sought-after speaker and commentator on food issues, appearing on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, BBC, NPR, and other outlets. Her work is widely cited in the media and has also been published in the Columbia Journalism Review and on NBC News.

Frank Yiannas, M.P.H. is a renowned food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, professor, past president of the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP), and advocate for consumers. Most recently, he served under two different administrations as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a position he held from 2018–2023, after spending 30 years in leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company.

Drew McDonald is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Food Safety at Taylor Fresh Foods in Salinas, California, where he oversees the quality and food safety programs across the foodservice, retail, and deli operations under both FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) jurisdictions. Mr. McDonald works with an impressive team developing and managing appropriate and practical quality and food safety programs for fresh food and produce products. He has more than 30 years of experience in fresh produce and fresh foods.

John Besser, Ph.D. worked for ten years as Deputy Chief of the Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he was involved in national and global programs to detect, characterize, and track gastrointestinal diseases. Prior to CDC, Dr. Besser led the infectious disease laboratory at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for 19 years and served as a clinical microbiologist at the University of Minnesota Hospital for five years. He currently works as an independent contractor and consultant. Dr. Besser is the author or co-author of more than 70 publications. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota.

Craig Hedberg, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota and Co-Director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence. He promotes public health surveillance as a prerequisite for effective food control, and his work focuses on improving methods for collaboration among public health and regulatory agencies, academic researchers, and industry to improve foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak investigations.

In this year-end episode of Food Safety Matters, we round up the top stories of 2025, covering U.S. federal food safety policy changes under the Trump Administration, MAHA- and state-led moves against food additives of concern and ultra-processed foods, infant formula safety, science on Listeria and biofilms, ongoing monitoring of avian flu, and AI food safety applications.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to legal expert Brian P. Sylvester, J.D. about the rapidly evolving U.S. food regulatory landscape under the MAHA movement, and how food companies can prepare for state and federal policy changes regarding food dyes, GRAS ingredients, ultra-processed foods, and other areas.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Jay Berglind, the CEO of Aegis Foods and the maker of Fearless Eggs, known for its novel pasteurization process. Jay discusses the science behind Fearless Eggs’ method and what sets it apart from traditional pasteurization, and the importance of food safety innovation.