Lone Jespersen is the principal at Cultivate, an organization dedicated to helping food manufacturers globally make safe, great-tasting food through cultural effectiveness. Lone has significant experience with food manufacturing, having previously spent 11 years with Maple Leaf Foods. Following the tragic event in 2008 when Maple Leaf products claimed 23 Canadian lives, Lone led the execution of Maple Leaf's food strategy and its operations learning strategy. She holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Syd Dansk University (Denmark), and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in food science from the University of Guelph (Canada).  

Marie Tanner joined the Dairy Farmers of America in 2017. She is currently the senior vice president of food safety and quality. Prior to that, Marie was the global chief food safety and quality, health, safety, and environment management at Kerry. Before Kerry, Marie held various quality leadership roles at PepsiCo and Godiva (Ulker). Marie holds an M.Sc. in food science from Rutgers University. She formally served on the board of SSAFE, a global nonprofit working to integrate food safety, animal health, and plant health across food supply chains. 

Neil Coole is the director of food and retail supply chain at BSI Americas. In 2015, Neil joined BRC Global Standards to head up their global key account strategy, engaging key industry brand owners, manufacturers, and retailers to understand their requirements from a risk solutions perspective. He was the subject matter expert on BRC Global Standards' new strategy on food safety and quality culture excellence, working with manufacturers on how to embed a culture of food safety and training food manufacturers, brand owners, and suppliers on the important topic of food safety and quality culture excellence. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to the panel [11:46] about:

• Organizational culture and how it influences food safety
• How a company's culture is created from the top down 
• How food safety culture can and should give an organization a competitive edge
• COVID's impact on food safety culture
• Why the idea of "implementing" a food safety culture is problematic
• Some wrong ways to go about creating change within an organization's culture
• Diversity and inclusion, and how they play a role in changing a company's culture
• How to begin undoing a history of complacency within a company's current culture
• Tips for improving and sustaining a positive culture

Food Safety Culture Articles 
Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture - Feb/March 2017 
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Primary Production - April/May 2017 
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Distribution - June/July 2017 
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Processing - Aug/Sep 2017  
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Foodservice - Oct/Nov 2017  
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Retail - Dec/Jan 2018 
Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Sector Leaders Sharing Their Challenges and Recommended Practices - Feb/March 2018

Resources
Cultivate Maturity Model
BSI - Cultivate Food Safety Culture Postcard 
BSI - COVID-19 Safe Working Guidelines 
BSI - Workplace Hygiene Solutions Brochure 
BSI - Workplace Hygiene Solutions Video
BSI - UK's National Standards Body - COVID-19 Response 

News Mentioned in This Episode
EU's Draft Amendment of Hygiene Legislation Includes Focus on Food Safety Culture [2:07] - see official draft regulation document 
FDA Announces the Voluntary Phase-Out of by Industry of Certain PFAS Used in Food Packaging [3:46] | The Growing Challenge of Safe Water Use for Food Processing Operations
UMASS Food Scientist Secures Grant to Develop New Method for Cleaning Peanut Butter Off Food Processing Equipment [7:42] 

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.

In this year-end episode of Food Safety Matters, we round up the top stories of 2025, covering U.S. federal food safety policy changes under the Trump Administration, MAHA- and state-led moves against food additives of concern and ultra-processed foods, infant formula safety, science on Listeria and biofilms, ongoing monitoring of avian flu, and AI food safety applications.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to legal expert Brian P. Sylvester, J.D. about the rapidly evolving U.S. food regulatory landscape under the MAHA movement, and how food companies can prepare for state and federal policy changes regarding food dyes, GRAS ingredients, ultra-processed foods, and other areas.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Jay Berglind, the CEO of Aegis Foods and the maker of Fearless Eggs, known for its novel pasteurization process. Jay discusses the science behind Fearless Eggs’ method and what sets it apart from traditional pasteurization, and the importance of food safety innovation.