This BONUS episode of Food Safety Matters is all about Michigan State University's Food Processing and Innovation Center (FPIC). The Center, the first of its kind in the U.S., will be Michigan's leading independent commercial food development, processing, packaging, and research facility. Here, mid- to large-size food companies have access to a real-time production environment to support the creation of new food products.
In this interview, Matt Birbeck (FPIC) and Gerry Broski (Neogen) go into great detail about how the FPIC can help food companies with their research and development efforts.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Matt (FPIC) and Gerry (Neogen) about:
Why the creation of the FPIC was necessary
FPIC's purpose within the food industry
Advantages, benefits, and services for clients who use the FPIC
How the partnership between the FPIC, MSU, and Neogen works
Why mid- and large-size food companies are ideal clients for the FPIC
Food product categories that the FPIC can accommodate
Alternative options for small or start-up food companies
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 Grocery Manufacturers Association’s 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.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Joe [16:19] about:
The basic fundamentals of sanitation in food safety
The persistent problem of Listeria in food processing environments
Sanitation best practices
The problem with preventative and corrective actions
The importance of using science-based approaches
Sanitation training offered by Commercial Food Sanitation
Advice regarding a food plant's implementation of Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs)
His thoughts on whether or not SSOPs should be shared amongst the food industry
Technological advancements vs. increasing productivity needs
The 7 Steps of Sanitation developed at Kraft, and the importance of performing those steps in the right order
Hygienic design and its implications regarding the future of food safety
The 10 Principles of Equipment Design
Good—and not so good—things he's seen when touring food processing plants
Sara Mortimer is the vice president of product safety, quality, and regulatory affairs for Land O’Lakes. Over her 30-year career, Sara has worked to ensure the safety and quality of some of the world’s biggest brands—Haagen Daaz, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Nature Valley, and many others.
Sara has co-authored a number of books on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and food safety management. In fact, she contributed to Food Safety Magazine's Food Safety Culture eBook! She's also served on Food Control's editorial board and was a trustee of the Royal Society of Public Health for several years.
Sara has been a member of the BRC International Advisory Board for over 10 years, and she's a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association's Executive Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Committee. Most recently, she has helped review the effectiveness of Codex HACCP and Food Hygiene principles.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Sara about:
The purpose of HACCP, and how it should work together as part of a comprehensive food safety management program
Critical Control Points vs. prerequisite programs
Sara's first experience writing a HACCP plan 30 years ago
Useful resources for writing a good HACCP plan
The seven principles of HACCP
Reasons why companies encounter food safety issues, even with a HAACP plan in place
The difficulties that arise when analyzing a food safety plan against varying global/international standards
The importance of maintenance as a supplemental HACCP principle
How altering a food product's formula (reduced sodium, sugar, etc.) can have massive food safety implications
Why the HACCP vs. HARPC debate doesn't really matter
Professor Chris Elliott is the founder of the Institute for Global Food Security and professor of food safety at Queen’s University Belfast. From 2016–2018, he served as pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences in the University, but stepped down from that post recently to concentrate on his world-leading research.
Chris has published more than 350 peer-reviewed articles, many of them relating to the detection and control of agriculture, food, and environmental related contaminants.His main research interests are in the development of innovative techniques to provide early warning of toxin threats across complex food supply systems. Protecting the integrity of the food supply chain from fraud is also a key research topic. Chris led the independent review of Britain’s food system following the 2013 horsemeat scandal.
Over the years, Chris has developed a high-level network of collaborators across Europe, the U.S., and Asia. He is a visiting professor at the China Agriculture University in Beijing and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship, and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Biology, and the Institute of Food Science and Technology.
Chris has received numerous prizes and awards for his work. In 2017, he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Theophilus Redwood Prize and was also awarded the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Chris Elliott about:
The 2013 horsemeat scandal and how he unexpectedly became involved in the investigation
How a complex food supply chain made it easy for cheating and fraud to occur
His recommendation to set up a special police force to begin tracking food-related crimes, which eventually became the UK's National Food Crime Unit
The Food Industry Intelligence Network (FIIN)
The cutting-edge technology that's known as "food fingerprinting" to detect tampering or adulteration
The problem with constant auditing for compliance
The three ground challenges at Queens University
Genetically modified (GM) foods, and the importance of pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides
Concerns about the cocktail effect of eating every day GM foods
Advancements and achievements in the U.S. and Europe vs. in other parts of the world
Brexit and how it may affect current food safety work
As 2018 comes to an end, the Food Safety Matters team, along with Bob Ferguson of Strategic Consulting Inc., sat down to discuss the biggest moments in food safety this year, and what we have to look forward to in 2019.
Dr. Maria Lapinski is a joint professor in the Department of Communication and Michigan Ag-Bio Research at Michigan State University (MSU). She served as the associate dean for research for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. In that role, she facilitated interdisciplinary research partnerships and identification of funding sources for faculty research.
Maria's research examines the impact of messages and socio-psychological factors on health and environmental risk behaviors with a focus on culturally-based differences and similarities. To this end, she has conducted collaborative research projects with her students and colleagues in a number of countries in Asia, the Pacific Rim, Central America, and Africa. Her work has been presented at national and international communication and public health conferences, and published in many journals including The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Health Communication, Communication Monographs, and others.
Dr. Lapinski received her doctorate in 2000 from MSU and earned her Master of Arts from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Maria about:
Risk communication courses offered at MSU
What risk communication is, and how it requires an interdisciplinary approach
How consumers view their responsibility when it comes to food risk
How guidance and mandates about risk communication are not typically science-based
General risk communication approaches
The importance of social media monitoring for brands
What food processors and other food safety professionals can do to help consumers minimize their risk
The challenge of information overload when it comes to food recalls
How algorithms shape what messages consumers see—and don't see
How social media affects consumers' perception of risk and their behavioral decisions
Seemingly minor factors that can affect a person's food safety behaviors and attitudes
How cultural dynamics influence the way people respond to health issues and food safety
What motivates people to research more information, particularly in the event of a recall
The important work of extensions and land-grant institutions
The positive impact of brands engaging with consumers
Keith Warriner, Ph.D., is a professor of food science at the University of Guelph. He is also the food science graduate coordinator of the department’s Master of Science and Ph.D. food science programs.
After completing his Ph.D. in microbial physiology at the University College of Wales, he worked for the Department of Medicine at the University of Manchester where he studied biosensors. He also attended the University of Nottingham as a research fellow in food microbiology, working with fresh produce.
He joined the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph in 2002 and was promoted to full professor in 2011. He is the former president of the Ontario Food Protection Association, a member of the International Association of Food Protection, is an associate editor of the Canadian Journal of Microbiology, and is on the editorial board for Applied & Environmental Microbiology and International Journal of Food Microbiology.
Keith's research revolves around food safety and food microbiology, allowing him to work closely with industry and apply his research findings in a practical way.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Keith Warriner Ph.D. about:
Effective antimicrobial treatments for fresh produce
Ridding leafy greens of microbial contamination
His research looking at pathogen survival in different types of soil, and the impact of soil temperature
His thoughts on what happened in the U.S. romaine lettuce outbreak
Clostridium difficile and its persistent presence in meat, seafood, and fresh produce
The new development of biosensors, and how they detect pathogens
The Internet of Things and how it can be used to track data and produce results
Challenges with contamination in low-moisture food products
The use of food-contact antimicrobial coatings
How getting certain products or processes is easier to get approved in the U.S. vs. Canada
The One Health approach, which focuses on animal health, which would then lead to safer food
