Sanjay Gummalla is the vice president of regulatory and technical affairs at the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), where he recently led the effort to launch the organization's Food Safety Zone online tool released earlier this year. 

Previously, Sanjay was the vice president of product development at Zentis North America. Before that, he spent time at Givaudan where he served as the lead scientist for food and dairy processing and was responsible for conducting research to establish impact, performance, and stability of new ingredients and technologies. He also spent time in dairy flavor development at Cargill.

Sanjay earned his Ph.D. in nutrition and food sciences at Utah State University in 2000 and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Sanjay [17:59] about:

• Sanjay's career and background
• The history of AFFI and the organization's recent 75th anniversary
• AFFI's science-based and risk-based approach to food safety, and their focus on preventing and controlling Listeria monocytogenes in frozen foods
• The Food Safety Zone, AFFI's Listeria control program, and how it was developed and implemented
• Sanitation control, environmental monitoring, and other areas, templates, and resources covered or offered within the program
• AFFI's efforts to advance food safety via scientific research, developing best practices, training, and education for the supply chain, retailers, foodservice workers, and consumers
• Collaboration in food safety without the worry of competition 
• AFFI's partnership with Merieux NutriSciences
• The Alliance for Listeriosis Prevention
• AFFI's Frozen Food Foundation
• Consumer confusion about cooking instructions and what 'ready-to-eat' really means, and working with regulatory agencies to get consistent messaging out to the public
• Balancing convenience, taste, and safety of frozen foods
• Misconceptions about the nutritional benefits of frozen foods vs. fresh foods
• Plans to expand the Food Safety Zone and focus on other pathogens besides Listeria

Resources Mentioned:
AFFI Food Safety Zone online tool
Alliance for Listeriosis Prevention
AFFI Frozen Food Foundation
FrozenAdvantage.org 

News Mentioned in This Episode
New Food Allergen Labeling Coming to the UK [5:13]
Trade Group Pushes to Remove Coconut from FDA's Food Allergen List [6:51]
USDA Modernizes Swine Slaughter Inspection for the First Time in 50 Years [10:44] 

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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.

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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.

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