Barbara Masters, D.V.M., is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food, and Agriculture at Tyson Foods Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support to the enterprise and gives oversight to the Office of Animal Welfare. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Partnership for Food Safety Education, the Center for Foodborne Illness, and the Steering Committee of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Previously, Dr. Masters spent nine years as a Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda, where she worked closely with the meat and poultry industry to ensure regulatory compliance. She also served as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), where she established a solid infrastructure of science-based policies and data analysis to reduce foodborne illness and product recalls. Dr. Masters holds a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Mississippi State University and a Food Animal Internship from Kansas State University.

Blake Harris, CSCP, is a specialist in standards and process enhancement, digital solution development, and implementation, with more than a decade of experience in supply chain-related functions within the private sector and at non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He places high value on tackling complex issues to create efficient and uncomplicated solutions. As the Technical Director at the Institute of Food Technologists' Global Food Traceability Center (IFT’s GFTC), his focus centers on enhancing data digitization in food systems, which involves collaborative efforts with a diverse range of stakeholders from industry, government, and NGO sectors.

Alison Grantham, Ph.D., is a consultant who brings a rigorous, practical approach to her work with public and private sector organizations to improve the food system. Alison focuses on helping her clients develop data-driven tools and programs to define and achieve goals to enhance food and agriculture. She has worked closely with IFT's Global Food Traceability Center since 2019, developing the Global Dialogue in Seafood Traceability (GDST) standards, among other traceability initiatives. Prior to consulting, she led food systems research and development, and then food procurement, at an $800-million revenue e-commerce food company. Previously, she led Penn State Extension's beginning farmer training program and directed research at the Rodale Institute. Alison currently serves on the Rodale Institute's Board of Directors and the National Academy of Sciences' Committee to advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the body that oversees climate and other global change research across the 14 federal agencies.

Justyce Jedlicka serves as the Food and Beverage Regulatory Liaison in North America for MilliporeSigma, where she is responsible for engaging with influencers in the food and beverage industry to align initiatives with regulatory compliance and promote best practices for food safety and quality testing methods. Justyce has been serving the food and beverage industry since 2013, and received both a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.B.A. from the University of Missouri in St. Louis. She currently serves as the Food Sciences Section Chair and Executive Board Member of the American Council of Independent Labs and is a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT), and AOAC International.

Andrew Lienau is the Food Regulatory and Validation Senior Expert at MilliporeSigma. He has over 30 years of work experience in the fields of microbiology, assay development, and certification processes for pathogen detection in food. He is a member of the Expert Review Panel for AOAC International Official Methods Analysis (OMA), the Technical Board for MicroVal, and several working groups for ISO.  

Kathy Knutson, Ph.D., PCQI, is the Founder of Kathy Knutson Food Safety Consulting LLC, an author, and the Chair of the Education Committee for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), with expertise in the fields of bacteriology, food science, and education. She speaks, writes, and trains on U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act (FDA FSMA) compliance, and has also trained over 500 Preventive Controls Qualified Individuals (PCQIs) throughout her career. Dr. Knutson works with managers to help them write thorough hazard analyses, food safety plans, recall plans, environmental monitoring programs, and allergen programs. Additionally, Dr. Knutson travels to manufacturers to conduct swabbing to locate pathogens during recall investigations, as well as for gap assessments of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for cannabis-infused edibles. In 2020, she published her book, titled, Food Safety Lessons for Cannabis-Infused Edibles.

Yinqing Ma, Ph.D., is the Director of Compliance Policy Staff in the Office of Compliance at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA’s CFSAN). Dr. Ma leads the development and implementation of compliance policies, initiatives, and programs for CFSAN-regulated products. She also co-leads food allergens and economic adulteration initiatives at CFSAN. Dr. Ma received her B.S. and M.S. degrees and her Ph.D. in Food Science from Cornell University.

Carol D’lima, Ph.D., is a Food Technologist in the Division of Food Labeling and Standards in the Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling at FDA’s CFSAN. She is the subject matter expert working on allergen and gluten-free labeling issues. She develops all related regulations, guidances, and technical documents, and responds to relevant inquiries from stakeholders in these areas. She has served in her current role for nearly a decade. Dr. D’lima received her B.S and M.S. degrees at Purdue University and her Ph.D. in Food Science from North Carolina State University. 

Lise Korsten, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) in the Center of Excellence in Food Security at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She is also responsible for the food safety and regulatory control programs within the DSI-National Research Foundation (NRF) Center of Excellence in Food Security and actively interacts with other researchers in various institutes. She holds the position of Chair in the Global Task Force of Food Security for the International Society for Plant Pathology. Dr. Korsten has also addressed the South African Parliament on Food Safety Control and has developed a national framework for government to develop a Food Control Authority.

This episode of Food Safety Matters features a discussion about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Food Code in light of its 30^th anniversary. We are joined by two retail food safety regulators from FDA and two environmental health specialists with experience in Food Code adoption and implementation.