Shawn Stevens is an attorney and founding member of the Food Industry Counsel, a law firm that provides food safety legal and regulatory consulting services exclusively for food industry clients, ultimately helping them anticipate, navigate, and resolve their most pressing food safety challenges.
As a food industry consultant and lawyer, Shawn works throughout the U.S. and abroad with food industry clients (including the world’s largest growers, processors, restaurant chains, distributors, and grocers) helping them protect their brand by reducing food safety risk, complying with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety regulations, managing recalls, and defending high-profile foodborne illness claims.
Shawn also speaks regularly to audiences on a wide variety of emerging scientific, regulatory, and food safety legal trends. He authors columns for food industry publications, and he is quoted regularly by national media publications such as TIME Magazine, the New York Post, and Corporate Counsel.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Shawn Stevens about:
What he sees as the biggest food safety challenges his clients are facing
The Jack in the Box outbreak and how it changed the food industry
An overview of what happens during FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act inspections
His advice for food companies that expect to undergo a FSMA inspection
What a food company should do in the event of a recall—before, during, and after
The benefits of conducting a high-level mock recall
Consumer responsibility vs. manufacturer/processor responsibility when it comes to ready-to-eat food products
The concept of ready-to-prepare foods
How food safety regulations are beginning to mimic those in the pharmaceutical industry
Food companies' biggest liability
How he would approach food safety in his own food company
Trends in recall insurance and whether FDA will create thresholds for Listeria monocytogenes
Everything Food Safety in One Place in Real-Time
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Christopher R. Daubert, Ph.D., serves as the President of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and as the Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri (Mizzou), as well as a Professor in the Division of Food Systems and Bioengineering. He joined Mizzou from North Carolina State University, where he served as a Professor and Head of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Services; Director of the Food Rheology Laboratory; and system Co-Chair of Food, Biochemical, and Engineered Systems. His research explained the physical chemistry, molecular-level interactions, and functionality of food systems through an understanding of rheological behavior, while solving problems facing the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Alex Truelove has served as Legislation and Advocacy Manager at BPI (Biodegradable Plastics Institute) since 2022. He previously directed U.S. PIRG's (Public Interest Research Group's) zero-waste program. He remains passionate about waste reduction, public policy, and working with others to incrementally solve messy environmental problems.
To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2025 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Sharon Beals, Founder, SKKB; Peter Taormina, Ph.D., Founder and President, Etna Consulting Group; Sandra Eskin, J.D., CEO, STOP Foodborne Illness; John O'Fallon, Senior Manager Environmental Sensors, Zebra Technologies; and Monica Khoury, Senior Quality Expert, Nestlé; Lily Yasuda, Program Manager, Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness.
To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2025 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with keynote speaker Jason Evans, Ph.D., Dean, College of Food Innovation and Technology, Johnson & Wales University; as well as Brian Ronholm, M.A., Director of Food Policy, Consumer Reports; Michael Fang, Co-Founder, Spectacular Labs; and Steven Lyon, Ph.D., Director, Food Safety—Field Operations, Chick-fil-A Inc.; Purni Wickramasinghe, Ph.D., Food Safety & Restaurant Solutions, Chick-fil-A Inc.
Christian Ararat, M.Sc., M.Eng. is a food safety professional with more than ten years of experience in food safety and quality. After earning a bachelor's degree in Food Science from Valley University in Colombia, he began his career in the bakery industry, where he implemented and enforced good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and prerequisite programs. After moving to Canada, Christian joined Natursource Inc., a Montreal-based food manufacturing company dedicated to producing healthy snacks.
Savannah Applegate, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Applegate received her B.S. degree in Meat Science from Ohio State University and her M.S. degree and Ph.D. in Applied Food Microbiology from Texas Tech University. Her areas of expertise are meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in diagnostics and pathogen mitigation.
