Bob Whitaker, recently retired, served as the chief science and technology officer for the Produce Marketing Association (PMA). In that role, Bob was responsible for food safety, technology, supply chain management, and sustainability. He also served on the Center for Produce Safety's Board of Directors as well as on the California Leafy Greens Technical Committee. Prior to joining PMA, Bob spent 16 years in the biotechnology arena with DNA Plant Technology Corporation as a researcher, and then as vice president of fruit and vegetable R&D. Bob's career has also included roles at NewStar Fresh Foods and its subsidiary MissionStar Processing.

Bob earned his doctorate in biology from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Jennifer McEntire is the vice president of food safety and technology at United Fresh Produce Association. Before that, she was the vice president of science operations for the Grocery Manufacturers Association. She has also had roles as vice president and chief science officer at The Acheson Group and as the senior staff scientist and director of science and technology projects for the Institute of Food Technologists. She is an advisory board member of the Global Food Traceability Center, the technical committee of the Center for Produce Safety, and she serves on the executive committee of the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance.

Jennifer earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University as a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Needs Fellow in food safety. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Bob and Jen [18:13] about:

• Today's most pressing food safety issues in the produce sector
• The importance of personal engagement and individual operations
• Traceability challenges
• The benefits of having an electronic-based traceability system 
• Working with the Romaine Task Force
• Changes with how irrigation water is treated
• Providing federal and government agencies with the industry knowledge they need to complete an outbreak investigation
• What information agencies need when they conduct a traceback investigation
• Traceability issues with commingled food commodities
• Why blockchain is not a magical solution

Bob's Articles in Food Safety Magazine
Latest Research Findings Hit on Produce Safety Priorities 
Confronting Food Safety Challenges Head-On in Produce 
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Primary Production 
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Sector Leaders Sharing Their Challenges and Recommended Practices

Jen's Articles in Food Safety Magazine
Fixing FSMA's Ag Water Requirements 
Environmental Monitoring in the Era of Whole-Genome Sequencing
Building Food Safety Leaders
Product Tracing in Food Systems: Legislation vs. Reality

News Mentioned in This Episode
Chipotle's Use of Nurses to Verify Employee Cases of Norovirus [2:52]
2020 Goals for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service [7:41]
The Frozen Food Listeria Lot Risk Assessment Tool [9:39]
Update: Tyson Foods Wins Lawsuit Against USDA [15:27]

Sponsored by:

Safe Food California
Safe Food Alliance

Richard (Rick) Stier, M.S. is a consulting food scientist who has helped food processors develop safety, quality, and sanitation programs. He believes in emphasizing the importance of how these programs can help companies increase profits. Rick comes from a family background in food science, with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) establishing an award in his mother's name—the Humanitarian Award for Service to the Science of Food in honor of Elizabeth Fleming Stier. Rick holds degrees in food science from Rutgers University and the University of California at Davis. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Food Safety Magazine.

Claire Sand, Ph.D. is a global packaging leader with 40 years of experience in food science and packaging. As founder of Packaging Technology and Research LLC, her mission is to enable a more sustainable food system by advancing innovations that extend food shelf life and reduce waste.

Dr. Sand specializes in leading cross-functional teams, developing technology strategies, and creating implementation roadmaps for complex packaging challenges across the value chain. With over 150 publications to her credit, she is a regular contributor to leading food science and packaging publications and has held adjunct faculty positions at Michigan State University and California Polytechnic State University.

Kathleen Sanzo, J.D. is Co-Chair of Morgan Lewis' life sciences industry team. She centers her practice on regulatory and compliance issues connected to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated products. She leads and counsels clients on all legal and regulatory issues concerning food, dietary supplements, and cosmetic product manufacture, approval, marketing, and distribution; food, drug, and device compliance and enforcement matters; and consumer product issues regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and state enforcement agencies, among other areas. A frequent author and co-author on publications related to FDA matters, Kathleen regularly speaks on these issues at industry events. She serves as Vice Chair of the Consumer Product Regulation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, and is a member of the Food and Drug Law Institute's Medical Products Committee.

Campbell Mitchell, M.B.A. is Head of Food Safety and Compliance for Kraft Heinz North America. He has more than 30 years of international experience in food safety, quality management, and risk mitigation. Prior to joining Kraft Heinz, Campbell served as Vice President of Quality and Safety at Fairlife LLC, a $4-billion Coca-Cola-owned dairy brand. He has also held senior leadership roles with Kerry Group and Almarai in the Middle East. Additionally, he founded a consultancy that supported Tiger Brands in Africa.

Helena Bottemiller Evich is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Food Fix. She previously led coverage of food and agriculture at POLITICO for nearly a decade, winning numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious George Polk Award for a series on climate change and two James Beard Awards for features on nutrition and science. In 2022, she was a James Beard Award finalist for a deep dive on diet-related diseases and COVID-19. Helena is also a sought-after speaker and commentator on food issues, appearing on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, BBC, NPR, and other outlets. Her work is widely cited in the media and has also been published in the Columbia Journalism Review and on NBC News.

Frank Yiannas, M.P.H. is a renowned food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, professor, past president of the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP), and advocate for consumers. Most recently, he served under two different administrations as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a position he held from 2018–2023, after spending 30 years in leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company.

Drew McDonald is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Food Safety at Taylor Fresh Foods in Salinas, California, where he oversees the quality and food safety programs across the foodservice, retail, and deli operations under both FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) jurisdictions. Mr. McDonald works with an impressive team developing and managing appropriate and practical quality and food safety programs for fresh food and produce products. He has more than 30 years of experience in fresh produce and fresh foods.

John Besser, Ph.D. worked for ten years as Deputy Chief of the Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he was involved in national and global programs to detect, characterize, and track gastrointestinal diseases. Prior to CDC, Dr. Besser led the infectious disease laboratory at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for 19 years and served as a clinical microbiologist at the University of Minnesota Hospital for five years. He currently works as an independent contractor and consultant. Dr. Besser is the author or co-author of more than 70 publications. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota.

Craig Hedberg, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota and Co-Director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence. He promotes public health surveillance as a prerequisite for effective food control, and his work focuses on improving methods for collaboration among public health and regulatory agencies, academic researchers, and industry to improve foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak investigations.