Food Safety Matters is a podcast for food safety professionals hosted by the Food Safety Magazine editorial team – the leading media brand in food safety for over 20 years. Each episode will feature a conversation with a food safety professional sharing their experiences and insights of the important job of safeguarding the world’s food supply.
In this BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters, representatives from Neogen and AOAC INTERNATIONAL discuss the benefits of having testing methods and kits independently approved and certified.
You will learn all about the beginnings of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, how the organization has evolved, and what it means for a company within the food industry to be an affiliate member.
To help us better understand why AOAC INTERNATIONAL membership is a plus, our editorial director, Barbara Van Renterghem, spoke with two experts from both sides of the fence.
Dave Schmidt is AOAC INTERNATIONAL's new executive director as of May 1, 2018. Prior to joining AOAC, he was principal consultant for Schmidt Commonwealth Strategies, LLC. From 2006 to 2015, he served as president CEO of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) and CEO of the IFIC Foundation in Washington, D.C. He joined IFIC in 1993 and held positions from director to executive vice president prior to being elected CEO. Dave also served as the first Bush Administration's director of external affairs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service where he addressed food safety and nutrition issues and managed the inspection agency’s media, legislative, and consumer education programs. He also gained a thorough understanding of the food industry in previous sales positions with Oscar Mayer Foods, Pepsi-Cola USA, and Canada Dry Corp. He holds a B.A. in business administration from Vanderbilt University, and completed graduate business studies at the University of New Orleans. He has also served the Town of Leesburg, VA, as a town council member.
Dr. Robert Donofrio is the director of food safety research and development for Neogen. He joined Neogen in February of 2016, responsible for the strategic vision, resource management, and coordination of product development activities for the following laboratory groups: Immunodiagnostics, Biochemistry, Neogen Culture Media, Molecular biology, Pathogen Detection and General Microbiology. Dr. Donofrio also oversees the Neogen Validation laboratory which is responsible for performing internal product validation and coordinating third-party product certification and approval through groups such as AOAC, AFNOR, Health Canada, and MicroVal. Dr. Donofrio is also responsible for establishing key collaborations with university and private research centers as well as evaluating novel technologies for potential integration into Neogen’s product portfolio. Prior to Neogen, Dr. Donofrio spent 16 years at NSF International, a public health and safety company. During his tenure at NSF, Dr. Donofrio served as the director of the microbiology lab for over a decade, and then as director of the Applied Research Center for his final 3 years. He was awarded the NSF Star Employee Award in March of 2001 (was nominated for the same award in 2008), and guided his laboratory to the 2006 NSF Team of the Year Award.
Dr. Donofrio obtained his B.S. in biology from the University of Dayton in 1994 and his M.S. in environmental microbiology from Duquesne University in 1996, where he was named Graduate Student of the Year. Dr. Donofrio obtained his doctoral degree in microbiology from Michigan Technological University in May 2009.
Dr. Donofrio has authored dozens of publications for peer-reviewed journals, trade journals, and training materials. He is a full member of the International Association for Food Protection, Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB), AOAC, American Society for Microbiology, Institute of Food Technology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served on the Board of Directors at SIMB for two terms.
In this episode, we speak to Neogen and AOAC INTERNATIONAL about:
AOAC's history, mission, and funding
Future growth opportunities in microbiological testing, dietary supplements, and cannabis
Benefits of being an affiliate member
Method validations offered by AOAC, and options for proprietary methods
AOAC's laboratory proficiency testing program
Performance tested methods program vs. official methods of analysis program
The importance of AOAC approval to an affiliate member
The process of getting a testing method or kit approved by AOAC
Deciding which products will and will not go through the AOAC approval process
Global harmonization efforts
Education and training efforts, particularly for the new generation of scientists
Robert (Bob) Manning, M.B.A., M.S., M.E.M., has worked in the food and beverage industry for over 25 years in various facility and senior corporate positions. He is currently CEO of Liquid, and formerly worked as Vice President of Technical Operations at Niagara Bottling. He has spent most of his time in Operations and Quality roles for large companies such as HP Hood LLC, Campbell's Soup, and Niagara Bottling, as well as consulting for major domestic and international firms.
Brittany Sambol is the Vice President of Operations at Wildtype Foods, where she is responsible for leading the scale-up of the company’s operations function, including product commercialization and manufacturing facility expansion. Prior to joining Wildtype, Brittany spent six years at Clif Bar & Company, leading in various areas including supply chain and contract manufacturing management, product innovation and scale-up, and sustainable packaging development. Earlier in her career, Brittany worked as a chemical engineer and then spent over 12 years directly leading manufacturing operations in the CPG industry.
Khyati Shah, Ph.D. is an esteemed molecular biologist with a distinguished career spanning over ten years in the development and promotion of innovative pathogen testing of products for the food and beverage industry. Serving as a global product manager for the Food and Beverage segment of the Life Sciences business of MilliporeSigma, Dr. Shah is instrumental in creating and spearheading the product roadmap for the cultured meat and alternative protein business. With MilliporeSigma's strong focus on providing research and development (R&D) to scale-up solutions in this emerging industry, Dr. Shah enables cost-effective, sustainable, and efficient supply chain solutions to bring cultured meat and seafood products to market.
Jason Richardson, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Global Quality and Food Safety of The Coca-Cola Company, a position he has held since January 2021. In this role, Jason leads a team of quality and food safety professionals who are accountable for delivering global strategic and operational leadership for the performance and progress of quality and food safety programs across the Coca-Cola system.
Brian Ronholm, M.A.,is the Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports, where he leads advocacy efforts to advance a safe and healthy food system. He was in public service prior to joining Consumer Reports, having served as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and before that, as a congressional staff person for Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.
Natalie Dyenson, M.P.H. is the Chief Food Safety and Regulatory Officer for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA). She has nearly three decades of experience in food safety that encompasses the entire produce supply chain, from farm to fork. In her role at IFPA, Natalie and her team actively work to guide the industry on food safety issues and connect with regulators and policymakers to advocate for a science-focused and risk-based approach to food safety worldwide.
Brian Sylvester, J.D., is a Partner in Perkins Coie LLP's Washington D.C. office and a former Attorney-Advisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs Division's Office of the General Counsel. At Perkins Coie, Brian focuses his practice on regulatory matters before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the USDA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and analogous state regulatory bodies. He is a leading authority on food technology regulation and serves as a trusted advisor to global brands, startups, life science companies, investors, and trade associations.