Michael Cramer is currently the senior director of food safety and quality assurance with Ajinomoto Windsor, Inc. He is a Safe Quality Food practitioner, an American Society for Quality-certified quality auditor, and a Preventive Controls-Qualified Individual. A graduate of West Chester University, Mike earned a B.Sc. in health science in 1977. He's been an esteemed member of Food Safety Magazine's Editorial Advisory Board since 2001.

Dane Bernard is currently the managing director of Bold Bear Food Safety where he offers consulting services. He is a registered specialist in food, dairy, and sanitation microbiology with the American Academy of Microbiology. Dane has been an instructor and lecturer on principles and applications of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and has helped to formulate HACCP plans for the U.S. food industry. Dane received an M.Sc. in food microbiology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He's also a recipient of the Food Safety Magazine Distinguished Service Award (2017).

Dr. Robert (Bob) Powitz is the principal and technical director of R.W. Powitz & Associates. There, he specializes in forensic sanitation services to industry, law firms, insurance companies, and government agencies. Bob has dedicated his career to food safety having worked for over 54 years to study, develop, and implement the most effective sanitation practices. Bob received his undergraduate education in agronomy and plant pathology from the State University of New York and the University of Georgia. He holds a M.Sc. in public health with a specialty in institutional environmental health and a Ph.D. in environmental health, with specialties in environmental microbiology and epidemiology from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He also has a very long list of honors including, most impressively, a spot on the Food Safety Magazine Editorial Advisory Board.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Mike, Dane, and Bob [32:15] about:

• Issues with staffing, especially in food manufacturing
• Education gaps, and how colleges and universities play a role in staffing the future of food safety
• How current food safety professionals can do a better job of making the industry more inviting to up-and-coming professionals
• Working with auditors and regulators
• Trends such as food delivery, meal kits, and plant-based meat

We also speak with Dr. Mindy Brashears [19:11], the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety about:

• USDA's recent Food Safety Consumer Research Project: Meal Preparation Experiment Related to Poultry Washing (in partnership with RTI International and North Carolina State University)
• Study findings related to the evolution of consumer behaviors in the kitchen
• How USDA's current consumer messaging is faring, and how that messaging may change in the future
• Recommendations to prevent illness beyond USDA's Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill mantra
• Why changing consumer behavior continues to be a challenge
• Partnering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Partnership for Food Safety Education
• Opportunities to work with meat and poultry processors, and how they can assist with spreading accurate food safety messages

Mike Cramer's Articles Published in Food Safety Magazine:
Environmental Listeria Monitoring: Seek and Destroy Pathogens (December 2017/January 2018)
Allergen Management: A Personal and Professional Perspective (August/September 2016)
A Look at GMPs: How FSMA Will Change Expectations (February/March 2016)

For more articles from Mike Cramer? Access our compiled search at FoodSafetyMagazine.com

Bob Powitz's Articles Published in Food Safety Magazine:
Checking Field Thermometer Accuracy (April 2015 eDigest)
Chemical-Free Cleaning: Revisited (October/November 2014)
Non-EPA Registered Cleaners and Sanitizers For Use in Food Production Facilities and Retail Food Establishments (September 2013 eDigest)

​Want more articles from Bob Powitz? Access our compiled search at FoodSafetyMagazine.com

News Mentioned in This Episode
Public Meeting: New Era of Smarter Food Safety (submit comments here) [2:11]
New Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Investigation Kept Secret for 6 Weeks [7:06]  
Five Major Food Companies Form Leafy Greens Safety Coalition [15:59]

To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2026 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Roberta Wagner, M.Sc., Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA); Steven Mandernach, J.D., Executive Director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and Sandra Eskin, J.D., CEO of STOP Foodborne Illness; Jacob Nelson, Asset Protection Sales Manager at the Sherwin-Williams Company and Feraas Aiameh, Food and Beverage Marketing Manager at the Sherwin-Williams Company; Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Director of  the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA's) Office of Microbiological Food Safety, Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, and Lone Jespersen, Ph.D., Founder and Principal of Cultivate SA; and Cindy Jiang, Senior Director, Global Food Safety Risk Management, Global Supply Chain at McDonald's (retired).

To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2026 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Jeremy Zenlea, M.B.A., Vice President and Head of Health and Safety for EG America and Laurie Farmer, Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Office of Retail Food Protection; David Clifford, M.B.A., Director of Food Safety at Nestlé USA and Sara Mortimore, M.Sc., Founder of Sara Mortimore LLC and formerly Vice President for Food Safety at Walmart; Frank Curto, Ph.D., Vice President of Operations at Ecowize North America; and Drew McDonald, Senior Vice President of Quality, Food Safety, and Regulatory Affairs for Taylor Fresh Foods and Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Director of FDA’s Office of Microbiological Food Safety.

Larry Keener, CFS, PA is President and CEO of International Product Safety Consultants Inc. and an internationally regarded microbiologist and process authority in the food industry. His areas of expertise range from applied food microbiology to the development and application of novel preservation technologies.

In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Jenny Du, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Apeel Sciences, about Apeel—a clean alternative to traditional post-harvest produce coatings and treatments—its transparent approach to disrupting an $11 billion industry.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Sandro Tarchini of the Cardano Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the blockchain ecosystem, about the applications for blockchain throughout the food supply chain and how it can improve farm-to-retail traceability and transparency.

Suzette Stalker is Director of FSQA Program Compliance at FreshRealm Inc. Formerly, she served as Director of Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory compliance at Target Corporation. At Target, Suzette was responsible for food safety standards and programs, covering nearly 2,000 stores and more than 60 supply chain facilities. Her work encompassed owned brand supplier manufacturing facilities, product labeling, produce farms, supply chain facilities, retail stores, and managing food recalls. Previously, Suzette led teams to develop and execute comprehensive internal audits of food safety and operational risks across Target. 

Sabrina Terada is the Manager for Food Safety Risk Management and Measurement at Yum! Brands. She is a seasoned professional in food safety and quality assurance with extensive experience at Yum! Brands, where her roles have included Manager of Global Food Safety Risk Management and Measurement and Manager of Global FSQA. In these positions, Sabrina held responsibilities supporting the Food Safety Governance Framework, coaching, and assisting business units with crisis management.