John Butts is the vice president of research at Land O’Frost. He first joined the company in 1974. His focus there includes the application of scientific principles and quality management technology to develop sanitation process control methods and procedures. 

John is mostly known for the development of the “seek and destroy” process controls for Listeria which has been adopted throughout the food industry. He is a leading expert on sanitary design and food safety culture and has given over 100 presentations including the North American Meat Institute Listeria Intervention and Control workshops.

John is also the founder and president of FoodSafetyByDesign LLC, a private consulting firm he established in 2010. There, he aims to help producers of high-risk products learn how to prevent and manage food safety risks. Listeners can reach him directly by emailing him at foodsafetybydesign@gmail.com.

Finally, John is a longtime member of the Food Safety Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, along with having written numerous articles for the publication. He received the FSM Distinguished Service Award in 2006. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to John Butts about: 

• The many reasons why Listeria's presence in meat has diminished over the years
• The importance of physical barriers and hygienic zoning within a food facility
• Why Listeria is so problematic in both wet and dry environments
• The proper processes of cleaning, sanitizing, disassembling equipment, and surface sampling
• Problems associated with cleaning and disassembling equipment
• Where Listeria actually comes from, and where it's commonly found
• The definition of a harborage site
• Unique ways to sanitize food facility equipment
• The importance of having a multidisciplinary team in place
• Sanitary design, sampling, and how keeping up with these tasks can save money
• The three fundamental types of sampling

Food Safety Magazine articles written by (or featuring) John Butts:
Land O’Frost: Breaking Ground in Sanitary Facility Design

The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Processing

Seek & Destroy: Identifying and Controlling Listeria monocytogenes Growth Niches

The Journey to a State of Control
 

Related Content:
2014 Sanitary Equipment Design Taskforce (checklist and glossary)
YouTube Video: Weber--Steaming a Ready-to-Eat Slicer 
Blockchain Explained—Reuters infographic

News Mentioned in This Episode:
Walmart's Blockchain Food Traceability Initiative 
FDA Recall/Retail Disclosure Draft Guidance (includes instructions to submit public comments)
Congresswoman DeLauro Questions Ground Beef Recall Timeline

Sponsored by:

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Webinar: Is Your EMP Program Hitting the Mark? Watch our recorded webinar
White Paper: Download Eurofins' Environmental Monitoring Guide

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Mindy Brashears, Ph.D. is the USDA's Under Secretary for Food Safety. Dr. Brashears previously served as Under Secretary for Food Safety from 2020–2021, and Deputy Under Secretary in 2019. Dr. Brashears returns to USDA from Texas Tech University, where she was a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor of Food Safety and Public Health, the Roth and Letch Family Endowed Chair for Food Safety, and the Director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence.

Justin Ransom, Ph.D. is Administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), where he oversees FSIS' mission to ensure the safety, wholesomeness, and proper labeling of America's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and processed egg products. He leads the agency's modernization efforts, streamlining inspection systems, strengthening public health protections, and advancing science-based policies. 

Elena Medo, M.B.A. is an entrepreneur, researcher, and inventor who has spent nearly 40 years transforming neonatal care through leadership and innovation. She has secured numerous patents, raised over $40 million across four companies, and built a legacy of firsts, including the first commercially available shelf-stable donor breast milk product; the first milk bank owned exclusively by nursing mothers; and the first medical device designed to analyze human milk. Today, as CEO and co-founder of Leonie Health PBC, established in 2023 with her daughter, Adrianne Weir, Elena is developing a revolutionary product that replicates the immune properties of colostrum to protect preterm infants against the three deadliest neonatal infections—necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAC), and sepsis—which together claim the lives of more than 30,000 hospitalized infants per year.

Alissa Welsher, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Welsher received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a master’s degree in poultry science and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Arkansas. Her area of expertise is meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in integrated pest management (IPM).

Lyle Probst is the CEO of NomadX and an accomplished entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in operations, product development, engineering, biodefense, and advanced technology commercialization.

Alex LeBeau, Ph.D., M.P.H., CIH is the owner of Exposure Assessment Consulting LLC in Orlando, Florida, where he offers toxicology, industrial hygiene, risk assessment, and public health consulting services. Over his 13-year career, he has evaluated environmental and occupational exposures and has performed toxicological evaluations of chemicals and biological agents. He has also performed human health risk assessments of contaminated sites using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state regulatory guidelines and has monitored remediation activities at those sites. To evaluate the exposure impacts on building occupants, he has performed indoor environmental quality assessments, including Legionella and water quality assessments, at healthcare, residential, and industrial facilities.