In this Special Edition, Food Safety Matters spoke to two supply chain experts about COVID-19 and what it means for every level of the global food industry.

John G. Keogh is a strategist, advisor, and management science researcher with 30 years of executive leadership roles as director, vice president, and senior vice president in global supply chain management, information technology, technology consulting, and supply chain standards. Currently, he is managing principal at Toronto-based, niche advisory, and research firm Shantalla Inc. He holds a post-graduate diploma in Management, an MBA in Management and a Master of Science in Business and Management Research in Transparency and Trust in the Food Chain. He is currently completing doctoral research focused on transparency and trust in global food chains at Henley Business School, University of Reading, using the lenses of agency theory, signaling theory, and transactional cost theory.

Carl or ’’C.J.” Unis is a Systems Engineer with expertise in Continuity of Operations, Continuity of Government, devolution, infrastructure, supply chain logistics and emergency management. He has a Master’s Degree in Systems Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. C.J. was formerly the critical infrastructure protection program manager for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. He has served as a federal agent in the capacity of providing classified transportation for the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration— Office of Secure Transportation, as well as holding numerous positions for the U.S. Marine Corps in the capacity of performing internal embassy, dignitary, motor transport specialist and classified material security duties.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to John and C.J. about:

• Opinions on whether or not the current coronavirus outbreak was a foreseeable event
• How the consequences of the food industry's lack of digitization is panning out amid the outbreak
• Issues within the global supply chain, ingredient sourcing, and what could happen if the effects of COVID-19 are long-lasting
• What leadership really looks like at a time like this
• How the government and food industry are initiating change in parts of Canada
• Disruptions and unintended consequences the food industry is having to deal with
• The food industry's road to recovery

Resources
Breaking Boundaries to Avoid a Food System Crisis (February/March 2020)

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to WHO’s Dr. Elaine Borghi about the new global foodborne disease burden estimates, updates to the methodology, key insights from the data, and the importance of using data to target food safety interventions, aligning with the WFSD theme “From Burden to Solutions—Safe Food Everywhere.”

Alissa Welsher, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Welsher received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, 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 in meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in integrated pest management (IPM). 

Brady Carter, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientific Officer at Carter Scientific Solutions. He specializes in water activity, moisture sorption, shelf-life stability, plant science, and wheat production and quality. He has 23 years of experience in research and development and previously was a Research Professor at Washington State University focusing on wheat end-use quality. Dr. Carter has pioneered work in using dynamic isotherms to investigate product stability and establish critical water activities for optimal shelf life. He also specializes in shelf-life loss and effective utilization of instrumentation to address product safety and quality issues. Dr. Carter holds a Ph.D. in Crop Science and Food Engineering and an M.S degree in Cereal Chemistry and Crop Science from Washington State University, as well as a B.A. degree in Botany from Weber State University.

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.