Joe Stout is the founder of Commercial Food Sanitation, a consulting firm that provides food safety and sanitation solutions to food processing plants. Before that, Joe spent nearly 30 years at Kraft Foods. While there, he held a variety of positions related to operations, quality, and sanitation, ultimately leading to his role as Kraft's director of global product protection, sanitation, and hygienic design.

In this role at Kraft, Joe had global responsibility for plant cleaning controls and processes, allergen and pathogen control programs, pest control, and hygienic design for facilities and equipment used in more than 200 Kraft plants. Joe also managed the Global Product Protection Group, assuring global support for internal and external plants.

Joe led the American Meat Institute’s (AMI) Equipment Design Task Force and has led Listeria Intervention training for AMI and the American Frozen Food Institute. He is the current leader of the Consumer Brands Association's (formerly, the Grocery Manufacturers Association) Sanitary Design Working Group. He also conducts allergen training for the Food Allergy Research Resource Program. In addition to his involvement with these and many other leading industry organizations, Joe is a published authority when it comes to food safety, sanitation, hygiene, and other related areas.

Joe was previously featured in Ep. 42 of Food Safety Matters.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Joe [24:00] about:

• Why Listeria is such a tricky pathogen to get rid of
• Seek and destroy vs. seek and eliminate
• How Kraft has handled past instances of Listeria
• Why ready-to-eat products are so susceptible to Listeria contamination
• Pairing a Listeria control program with environmental monitoring
• Sanitation procedures for Listeria vs. Salmonella
• A company's options when a complete food facility rebuild or redesign is not possible
• Advice for cleaning equipment
• Swabbing frequency tips
• Why completely avoiding Listeria in certain food plants is impossible

We also speak with Steve Mandernach [9:12] about:

• The release of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint

Joe Stout's Articles in Food Safety Magazine
Hygienic Design: How Our Thinking Has Evolved
Perspectives on Practices in Food Plant Sanitation and Hygiene
Principles of Environmental Pathogen Control
10 Principles of Equipment Design for Ready-to-Eat Processing Operations

News Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Prepares for Resumption of Domestic Inspections with New Risk Assessment System [2:07]
FDA: Inspections of Small Businesses under the FSMA Intentional Adulteration Rule to Begin March 2021 [5:09]
Former Blue Bell CEO: Felony Charges Dropped in Deadly Listeria Outbreak Case [7:00]  

Sponsored By: 

Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program 
Online MS in Food Safety Program
Curriculum: Online MS in Food Safety Program

Lily Yasuda is the Deputy Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, where she leads national initiatives that bring together food industry leaders to strengthen food safety culture and support continuous learning across the sector.

Athenais Boeffard is a collaborative and people-focused production leader with over a decade of experience in food manufacturing and food safety. 

John Boyce has over 45 years of experience in various aspects of food production, food safety, quality assurance, sanitation, training, and auditing. 

Rhodes Yepsen joined the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) in 2015, where he leads the organization's efforts to promote the value of compostable products. Rhodes is passionate about systems-based solutions, where there is synergy in solving for food waste and packaging simultaneously—addressing climate change, ecosystem impacts, and regenerative agriculture. Previously, he served on the Board of USCC, worked for biopolymer producer Novamont, and was a staff editor and writer at BioCycle magazine.

Brittney Miller is President of Manchester Farms, America's first quail farm. What started over 40 years ago as a backyard hobby has grown into a nationally recognized, family-owned business that produces more than 80,000 quail weekly, raising them responsibly, without antibiotics or hormones, and shipping premium products to chefs, retailers, and home cooks across the country. Brittney's story is about more than farming: it is about stewardship, innovation, and family values. She combines her passion for sustainable agriculture with modern food safety standards. Her SQF Level 2 certified, HACCP-compliant farm sets the benchmark for quality in specialty poultry.

Mindy Brashears, Ph.D. is the USDA's Under Secretary for Food Safety. Dr. Brashears previously served as Under Secretary for Food Safety from 2020–2021, and Deputy Under Secretary in 2019. Dr. Brashears returns to USDA from Texas Tech University, where she was a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor of Food Safety and Public Health, the Roth and Letch Family Endowed Chair for Food Safety, and the Director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence.

Justin Ransom, Ph.D. is Administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), where he oversees FSIS' mission to ensure the safety, wholesomeness, and proper labeling of America's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and processed egg products. He leads the agency's modernization efforts, streamlining inspection systems, strengthening public health protections, and advancing science-based policies. 

Elena Medo, M.B.A. is an entrepreneur, researcher, and inventor who has spent nearly 40 years transforming neonatal care through leadership and innovation. She has secured numerous patents, raised over $40 million across four companies, and built a legacy of firsts, including the first commercially available shelf-stable donor breast milk product; the first milk bank owned exclusively by nursing mothers; and the first medical device designed to analyze human milk. Today, as CEO and co-founder of Leonie Health PBC, established in 2023 with her daughter, Adrianne Weir, Elena is developing a revolutionary product that replicates the immune properties of colostrum to protect preterm infants against the three deadliest neonatal infections—necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAC), and sepsis—which together claim the lives of more than 30,000 hospitalized infants per year.

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