Sara Mortimer is the vice president of product safety, quality, and regulatory affairs for Land O’Lakes. Over her 30-year career, Sara has worked to ensure the safety and quality of some of the world’s biggest brands—Haagen Daaz, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Nature Valley, and many others.

Sara has co-authored a number of books on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and food safety management. In fact, she contributed to Food Safety Magazine's Food Safety Culture eBook! She's also served on Food Control's editorial board and was a trustee of the Royal Society of Public Health for several years. 

Sara has been a member of the BRC International Advisory Board for over 10 years, and she's a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association's Executive Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Committee. Most recently, she has helped review the effectiveness of Codex HACCP and Food Hygiene principles.

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

• The purpose of HACCP, and how it should work together as part of a comprehensive food safety management program
• Critical Control Points vs. prerequisite programs
• Sara's first experience writing a HACCP plan 30 years ago
• Useful resources for writing a good HACCP plan
• The seven principles of HACCP
• Reasons why companies encounter food safety issues, even with a HAACP plan in place
• The difficulties that arise when analyzing a food safety plan against varying global/international standards
• The importance of maintenance as a supplemental HACCP principle
• How altering a food product's formula (reduced sodium, sugar, etc.) can have massive food safety implications
• Why the HACCP vs. HARPC debate doesn't really matter
• HACCP and food safety culture

Related Content 
BOOK: HACCP: A Practical Approach

Bob Ferguson's Food Safety Insights Articles
Processors Increasingly Turning to Testing for Allergen Control (December 2018/January 2019)
The Uphill Path to FSMA Compliance (October/November 2018)
Lessons Learned: Careers in Food Safety (August/September 2018)
Listeria: An Important Focus of Environmental Monitoring (June/July 2018)
Sanitation Verification for Allergen Control (April/May 2018)
Testing and Sanitation for Allergen Control (February/March 2018) 
Outsourcing: Pathogen Testing under the Microscope (December 2017/January 2018)
The New Face of Sanitation Programs: New Rules, New Challenges (October/November 2017)
A Closer Look at Environmental Monitoring in the Processing Plant (August/September 2017)
What Industry and FDA Are Thinking About FSMA Implementation (June/July 2017)
The Drivers of Differences in Food Safety Testing Practices (April/May 2017)
A Look at the Microbiology Testing Market (February/March 2017)

News Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Food Inspections "Sharply Reduced" Amid Partial Government Shutdown | UPDATE: Unpaid FDA Workers Resume High-Risk Food Inspections 
CDC Declares Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Over 
Draining Canal May Reveal Answers About Romaine Contamination 

Lily Yasuda is the Deputy Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, where she leads national initiatives that bring together food industry leaders to strengthen food safety culture and support continuous learning across the sector.

Athenais Boeffard is a collaborative and people-focused production leader with over a decade of experience in food manufacturing and food safety. 

John Boyce has over 45 years of experience in various aspects of food production, food safety, quality assurance, sanitation, training, and auditing. 

Rhodes Yepsen joined the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) in 2015, where he leads the organization's efforts to promote the value of compostable products. Rhodes is passionate about systems-based solutions, where there is synergy in solving for food waste and packaging simultaneously—addressing climate change, ecosystem impacts, and regenerative agriculture. Previously, he served on the Board of USCC, worked for biopolymer producer Novamont, and was a staff editor and writer at BioCycle magazine.

Brittney Miller is President of Manchester Farms, America's first quail farm. What started over 40 years ago as a backyard hobby has grown into a nationally recognized, family-owned business that produces more than 80,000 quail weekly, raising them responsibly, without antibiotics or hormones, and shipping premium products to chefs, retailers, and home cooks across the country. Brittney's story is about more than farming: it is about stewardship, innovation, and family values. She combines her passion for sustainable agriculture with modern food safety standards. Her SQF Level 2 certified, HACCP-compliant farm sets the benchmark for quality in specialty poultry.

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).