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

News Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Investigation: Cyclospora Illnesses Linked to McDonald's Salads Supplied by Fresh Express
FDA Commissioner's Statement on Recent Cyclospora Illnesses
South Africa Listeria Outbreak Declared Over
FDA Sampling Assignment-Cyclospora in Fresh Herbs
FDA: Avoid Frozen Desserts and Drinks Made with Liquid Nitrogen

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Tom Black is the First Assistant Secretary of the Exports and Veterinary Services Division at the Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry. In this role, he is responsible for regulating and facilitating Australia's exports of animal commodities and certified organic products, while also providing the overarching technical food safety framework for both food exports and imports.

Gabor Molnar, Ph.D. is an Industrial Development Officer at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), technically leading UNIDO's food safety work. As part of his responsibilities, Dr. Molnar designs and implements food safety capacity-building initiatives, mostly in Asia and Africa. He also represents UNIDO in various global forums, including the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Dr. Molnar is the main organizer of the Vienna Food Safety Forum (VFSF) and specializes in the domain of digitalization for food control and safety systems. Dr. Molnar holds a Ph.D. from Université Laval, as well as multiple master's degrees and certifications.

Kris Sollid, RD, is the Senior Director for Research and Consumer Insights at the International Food Information Council (IFIC). A registered dietitian with a passion for improving nutrition science communications, his role at IFIC includes leading consumer research projects, educational resource development, social and traditional media engagement, and written contributions to various consumer, trade, and peer-reviewed publications.

John Spink, Ph.D. is the Director and Lead Instructor for the Food Fraud Prevention Academy, as well as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in the College of Business at Michigan State University (MSU). His food fraud prevention research focuses on policy and strategy to understand and prevent supply chain disruptions and to implement procurement best practices. He is widely published in leading academic journals and has helped lead national and global regulatory and standards activity. More recently, his teaching and research has expanded to supply chain disruption management and procurement best practices.

Roy Fenoff, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at The Military College of South Carolina (The Citadel). He is also a Forensic Handwriting and Document Examiner and an expert in forgery detection. Dr. Fenoff specializes in forgery and document fraud, food fraud and protection, and transnational crime.

David T. Dyjack, Dr.P.H., CIH has served as Executive Director and CEO of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) since May 2015. Dr. Dyjack's 30-year career includes expertise in environmental health, emergency preparedness and response, public health informatics, infectious disease, workforce development, governmental infrastructure, maternal and child health, health equity, and chronic disease. A board-certified industrial hygienist, Dr. Dyjack also has advanced degrees in public health with a doctorate from the University of Michigan and a master's degree from the University of Utah.

Kathy Knutson, Ph.D., PCQI, is educated in bacteriology, food science, and education. She speaks, writes, and trains on compliance for the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). She has trained over 500 Preventive Controls Qualified Individuals (PCQIs). Dr. Knutson works with managers to write thorough hazard analyses, food safety plans, recall plans, environmental monitoring programs, and allergen programs. In 2020, she published a book, Food Safety Lessons for Cannabis-Infused Edibles. Dr. Knutson travels to manufacturers for swabbing to locate a pathogen during recall investigations and for gap assessments of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).