Steve L. Taylor, Ph.D. currently serves as a professor in the Department of Food Science & Technology and founder and co-director of the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP) at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Taylor received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in food science and technology from Oregon State University and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California - Davis. Dr. Taylor maintains an active research program in the area of food allergies.

Dr. Taylor initiated his professional interest in food allergies and sensitivities in 1980. His primary research interests involve the development of methods for the detection of residues of allergenic foods, the determination of the minimal eliciting doses for specific allergenic foods and their use in quantitative risk assessment, the assessment of the allergenicity of ingredients derived from allergenic sources, and the assessment of the allergenicity of foods produced through agricultural biotechnology. Dr. Taylor is heavily involved in outreach to the food industry on food allergies and sensitivities and has helped countless companies on a wide range of allergen-related topics. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Steve Taylor about:

• Why the number of food allergen recalls in the U.S. appears to be climbing
• How U.S. regulations continue to lag behind in terms of setting allergy thresholds
• The discrepancy between consumer allergy management and the U.S. healthcare system
• The development of allergies in infants vs. adults, and how food allergies are less common outside the U.S.
• Why allergy avoidance is not always the best treatment for consumers with perceived food allergies
• Immunotherapies, mass spectrometry, and other forms of allergy treatment currently undergoing research
• His industry work and ongoing research with detection methods, and his involvement with Food Allergy Research & Education, and FARRP at the University of Nebraska
• Thoughts on how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could help alleviate problems related to food allergens and product labeling
• The correlation between gluten-free foods and food allergens
• Whether or not food processors should have dedicated processing lines for foods made with allergenic ingredients

Related Content:
A Look Back at 2016 Recalls
Report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Recommendations to the Food Industry and Regulatory Agencies on the Management of Food Allergens (Feb/March 2017)
Steve Taylor, Ph.D., Receives Food Safety Magazine's Distinguished Service Award (2013)
Allergen Validation: Analytical Methods and Scientific Support for a Visually Clean Standard (Dec. 2011/Jan. 2012)
Ensuring the Safety and Quality of Fried Foods (June/July 2007)
Bakeries Rise to Food Safety and Defense Challenges (Aug/Sep 2006)

News Mentioned in This Episode
Food Safety Pioneer Dave Theno Dies at 66
Bernard and Bennett to Receive Food Safety Magazine's Distinguished Service Award
3.7 Million Pounds of Recalled Meat Products Linked to One Breadcrumb Supplier
Clemson Studies Stress Responses of Foodborne Illness and the Impact on Food Safety
New EU-China-Safe Project to Focus on Food Fraud 
EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis Speaks with Food Safety Magazine

Sponsored by:

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• Cleaning to a validated standard
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Haley F. Oliver, Ph.D. is the Director of the Feed the Future Food Safety Innovation Lab at Purdue University. She is also the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars and the 150^th Anniversary Professor of Food Science at Purdue University, renowned for her expertise in food safety microbiology. She earned dual B.S. degrees in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from the University of Wyoming in 2004, followed by a Ph.D. in Food Science, with minors in Epidemiology and Microbiology, from Cornell University in 2009. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell, Dr. Oliver joined Purdue University in 2010. 

Justyce Jedlicka serves as the Food and Beverage Regulatory Liaison in North America for MilliporeSigma, where she is responsible for engaging with influencers in the food and beverage industry to align initiatives with regulatory compliance and promote best practices for food safety and quality testing methods. Justyce has been serving the food and beverage industry since 2013, and received both a B.S. degree in Chemistry and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Missouri in St. Louis. She currently serves as the Food Sciences Section Chair and Executive Board Member of the American Council of Independent Labs, and is a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT), and AOAC International.

Sally Powell Price is MilliporeSigma's Regulatory and Public Health Expert for Food and Beverage Safety Testing in North America. Previously, she served as Director of Lab Operations at a biotech startup in Boston and was the Food Lab Supervisor at the New York City Department of Health Public Health Laboratory. She holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Hamilton College, an M.S. degree in Microbiology and Immunology from James Cook University in Australia, and did continuing coursework in public health and foodborne disease at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She is a member of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), and AOAC International.

Thomas Gremillion, J.D., M.A. is the Director of Food Policy at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). He oversees research, analysis, advocacy, and media outreach for the group's food policy activities, and monitors food safety activities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and in Congress, where he advocates for strong food safety protections for consumers. He also coordinates the Safe Food Coalition, a group of consumer, trade union, and foodborne illness victim organizations dedicated to reducing foodborne illness by improving government food inspection programs.

Paul Shapiro is the author of the bestselling book, Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World. He is also CEO of The Better Meat Co., a company that uses fermentation to turn microbes into alternative meat. Paul is a five-time TEDx speaker, the host of the Business for Good Podcast, and a long-time leader in food sustainability.

As an authority on food and agriculture sustainability, Paul has been interviewed by numeorous news outlets—ranging from CNN to StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson. He has also published hundreds of articles in publications like the Washington Post, Scientific American, FORTUNE, and academic journals. In 2023, Paul was named as a Most Admired CEO by the Sacramento Business Journal.

Johanna Velez is Vice President of Quality Assurance for Monin Americas, having joined the brand in 2002. With more than 27 years in the food industry, Johanna has a wealth of experience in leading, directing, and guiding the company’s food safety and quality programs at all Monin North America locations. She successfully led Monin to achieve Safe Quality Foods (SQF) and Organic certifications for both the Clearwater, Florida and Sparks, Nevada facilities, resulting in an "Excellent" rating for the brand’s food safety practices. Prior to Monin, Johanna spent five years at Wild Flavors (now Archer-Daniels-Midland Company) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), including the Florida IFT Division, as well as the Bay Area Manufacturers Association (BAMA). Johanna graduated from Louisiana State University and later attended Michigan State University to obtain her certification in Food Law and Regulations.

Carolyn Ross, Ph.D., M.Sc. is a Professor in the School of Food Science at Washington State University (WSU), Affiliate Professor in the WSU School of Medicine, and Director of the WSU Sensory Science Center. Since starting at WSU in 2004, Dr. Ross has established her lab and the WSU Sensory Science Center as a hub for graduate student training in the areas of sensory science and analytical chemistry. Specifically, the overall objectives of Dr. Ross's research and graduate education program are to understand the theoretical basis underpinning the sensory perception of foods and wines and correlate these attributes with quantifiable characteristics. Dr. Ross has also expanded her research to explore food texture perception in children. She has thrice been awarded the Institute of Food Technologists' (IFT's) Tanner Award for most‐cited article in the Journal of Food Science (in the Sensory and Food Quality section). Dr. Ross was also awarded the WSU Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction and is a Fulbright-Australia Scholar at Deakin University in Melbourne. She holds a Ph.D. in Food Science/Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University and an M.Sc. degree in Food Science from the University of Guelph.