Cindy Jiang is a senior director, Global Food and Packaging Safety, Global Supply Chain & Sustainability, for McDonald’s Corporation. Her responsibilities include developing food safety strategic plans, leading the effort to establish and maintain strong global supplier food safety and quality management systems and programs, having science- and risk-based food safety standards and policies, anticipating and managing food-related emerging issues, supporting the markets with farm-to-restaurant food safety practices, and elevating the food safety culture within the corporation, supplier, and franchisee communities.  

Cindy has been the lead for McDonald’s Food Safety Advisory Council since 2002, a forum for sharing food safety knowledge and best practices among leading suppliers and external experts. She has been actively engaged with industry and government collaboration on food safety. She has served on the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Board since 2008 and is currently a member of the Board for SSAFE and IFIC.

Cindy began her career with the McDonald’s Corporation after receiving an M.Sc. in food science and nutrition from the University of Wisconsin in 1990. She has held various positions at McDonald’s Corporation, from a food chemist to a quality assurance consultant, a senior quality assurance manager, and a director of food safety. Cindy has been actively engaged in leading the effort on harmonization of food safety standards by working with the food suppliers, the foodservice industry, certification program owners, and auditing firms since early 2007. She is a senior member of the American Society for Quality and has been a member of Institute of Food Technologists since 1989. She is also a current member of the International Association of Food Protection. She is passionate about advancing food safety for the benefit of consumers.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Cindy [19:43] about:

• The importance of meetings, team building activities, and volunteering in an effort to keep food safe
• The collaborative process McDonald's follows when new equipment needs to be developed
• McDonalds' approach to new employee training
• What regulators are looking for when they visit a foodservice establishment
• Understanding why collaboration is necessary and valuable
• Why food safety is not an area of competition
• McDonalds' three-leg stool system
• How McDonald's communicates with its many suppliers
• How McDonald's suppliers are required to have at least one GFSI benchmark certification
• Why there are so many benchmarked schemes, and why having a consolidated benchmarked scheme isn't feasible
• Government-to-government and government-to-business meetings
• Food safety culture
• Why every business within the food sector should be ready for an unannounced visit 24/7
• McDonald's and World Food Safety Day
• The ongoing challenge of meeting consumers' ever-changing expectations
• Technology, predictive analytics, and using data to predict potential foodborne illnesses and outbreaks
• How McDonald's has been delivering food in other countries years before it became a trend in the U.S.
• The importance of mastering soft skills, communication, and networking even in a science-based field

News Mentioned in This Episode
EFSA Identifies Three Food Safety Priorities for the Next 5–10 Years; Codex Agrees to Tackle E. coli in Certain Foods  [3:57]
Researchers Dissect 17 Years of Salmonella Outbreaks [8:51]
Viral Story: The Blue Bell Ice Cream Licker [11:12]  

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MSU's Online Food Safety Program - Educating Food Safety Leaders
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Adam Holt, BCE is a Board Certified Entomologist with decades of hands-on experience. He is the Founder and Principal Consultant at NameDatBug, a pest control consulting firm grounded in real-world success across every level of the pest control industry. Adam has held executive roles at several PCT Top 100 companies and brings unmatched industry expertise to every engagement. He holds a patent for an electronic rodent monitoring device, has worked in pest control software development, and has collaborated closely with manufacturers and distributors on both product design and market strategy.

Shannon Sked, Ph.D., BCE is an entomologist and the National Technical Director at Orkin. He received a B.S. degree from Rutgers University, an M.S. degree in Entomology from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers' Urban IPM Entomology lab. Dr. Sked's research focuses on distribution and temporal modeling of insect and rodent communities in order to design effective pest management programs. He began his career as a Navy Entomologist overseeing structural pests, specifically focusing on pests related to imports, exports, and within the logistics chain for Navy operations. He had the unique opportunity to practice applied entomology and invasive species management in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caribbean, and the eastern shore of the U.S.  

Michael Ciepiela is Vice President of Quality and Continuous Improvement at Southern Specialties. He brings over a decade of diverse experience in the food and beverage industry, along with experience in the pharmaceutical sector, specializing in quality assurance and food safety. Throughout his career, he has excelled in multi-site implementation and adherence to GFSI requirements and regulations. Michael has also been instrumental in promoting and educating Lean Six Sigma principles in fast-paced, cross-departmental settings. As a recognized thought leader, he frequently speaks at national conferences. He is also a senior member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Michael holds a bachelor's degree in Biology from Alfred University and a Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Villanova University.

Mindy Brashears, Ph.D. is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Under Secretary for Food Safety. She 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.

Carmen Rottenberg is a leader in food safety and agriculture policy, serving as Managing Director of Groundswell Strategy a Board Member for the Partnership for Food Safety Education. Prior to launching Groundswell Strategy, Carmen served as Administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Over her 13 years with USDA, Carmen held several leadership roles and was credited with spearheading key agency initiatives including modernizing food safety inspection systems and establishing and updating pathogen performance standards. Carmen has extensive experience achieving collaboration across federal, state, and municipal agencies including with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), with state departments of agriculture and across USDA's 29 agencies and offices.

Jules Shepard is the CEO and Founder of gfJules, the number-one‑voted gluten‑free flour and baking mixes company in the United States. A recognized gluten‑free baking expert, she has authored three award‑winning books in the field and recently released a new cookbook dedicated to gluten‑free bread. A long‑standing and respected leader in the gluten‑free and food allergy community, Jules championed the gluten‑free food labeling movement in 2011. Her tireless advocacy, education, and lobbying efforts culminated in her receiving the first‑ever "Gluten Free Person of the Decade" award in 2020.

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.