Dr. John Spink is the director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University (MSU). Over the years, John's research has focused on economically motivated food adulteration, including the use of adulterant substances, counterfeit products, stolen goods, smuggled goods, tampering and intentional mislabeling. His leadership positions include product fraud related activities with the International Organization for Standardization, Global Food Safety Initiative's (GFSI's) Food Fraud Think Tank, and U.S. Pharmacopeia. 

John's global activities include engagements with the European Commission, INTERPOL and Operation Opson, New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries. He also serves as the advisor on food fraud to the Chinese National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. John's outreach includes MSU’s biannual Food Fraud Massive Open Online Course that offers free training and certificates online.

In addition to John's many involvements throughout the food industry, he is also a frequent contributor to Food Safety Magazine.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to John Spink about:

• MSU's work in studying how companies and governments make decisions related to food
• Food safety vs. food fraud and why these two entities deserve to be looked at separately
• Why food fraud prevention is more important than simply discovering new cases of food fraud
• The many different types of food fraud and how criminals are getting even more sophisticated with their methods
• The Food Safety Modernization Act: where food fraud fits in, and where it doesn't
• Sudan red, melamine, horse meat and how these food fraud cases have brought the problem to the forefront
• Upcoming regulations and requirements for companies who want to be GFSI-compliant
• The Codex Alimentarius global food code
• How criminology, consumer behavior and other disciplines play a role in food fraud prevention

John Spink's Articles Published in Food Safety Magazine
Food Fraud Vulnerability Assessment and Prefilter for FSMA, GFSI and SOX Requirements (Feb/March 2017)
Economically Motivated Adulteration: Broadening the Focus on Food Fraud (Aug/Sep 2014)
COVER STORY: Economically Motivated Adulteration: Another Dimension of the Expanding Umbrella of Food Defense (Oct/Nov 2013)

Related Content:
MSU Joins Codex for New Food Fraud Undertaking
IUFoST Bulletin Examines Worldwide Food Fraud Problem
Trends and Solutions in Combating Global Food Fraud
The Food Safety Challenge of the Global Food Supply Chain

About Don Schaffner
Dr. Donald W. Schaffner is Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers University. He has published over 150 peer reviews papers on a variety of topics including handwashing, cross-contamination, quantitative microbial risk assessment and predictive food microbiology. Dr. Schaffner has served on a variety of national and international expert committees, including service to U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization. He is active in several scientific associations including the International Association for Food Protection where he is a past-president. He holds a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the University of Georgia. Don co-hosts a podcast—Food Safety Talk—on microbial food safety. 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Congressional Research Service on Food Fraud (included Food Protection Risk Matrix)
GFSI White Paper: Position Paper on Mitigating the Public Health Risk of Food Fraud
SSAFE
Codex Alimentarius
Handwashing: Cool Water as Effective as Hot for Removing Germs
Quantifying the Effects of Water Temperature, Soap Volume, Lather Time, and Antimicrobial Soap as Variables in the Removal of Escherichia coli ATTC 11229 from Hands
 

Would you like to tell us what you think about Food Safety Matters so far? Do you have a suggestion on who we should interview? Are there hot topics you'd like us to cover? Email us at podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com.

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:

Food Allergen Handbook and Best Practices for Food Allergen Validation & Verification Request

These food allergen handbooks were created in collaboration with the University of Nebraska’s Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) to help companies understand and develop food allergen controls. Topics covered include:

Food Allergen Handbook

• Why test for food allergens?
• Testing methods and how they work
• Sampling guidelines

Best Practices for Food Allergen Validation & Verification

• Cleaning to a validated standard
• Migrating from validation to verification
• Where to test

Download Allergen Handbook Now

Lone Jespersen is a 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 lead the execution of the Maple Leaf Foods, food safety strategy and its operations learning strategy.

Prior to that, Lone worked for Woodbridge Foam as the engineering and operations manager responsible for the safety and quality of automobile safety products. Lone holds a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from Syd Dansk University, Denmark, a Master of food science from the University of Guelph, Canada and is presently pursuing her Ph.D. on Culture Enabled Food Safety with Dr. Mansel Griffiths at the University of Guelph, Canada.

Lone currently serves as chair of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) technical working group on Food Safety Culture, a group dedicated to characterizing and quantifying food safety culture across the global food industry from farm to fork. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Lone Jespersen about:

• Her time at Maple Leaf Foods when a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak claimed the lives of 23 Canadians.
• Moving forward and how Maple Leaf Foods transformed their entire food safety approach.
• The elaborate 4-tier food safety program implemented at Maple Leaf Foods.
• Elevating the importance of food safety culture within a business.
• How trade associations can help to enforce the impact that food safety really has.
• Her involvement with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
• The Food Safety Magazine 2017 series on food safety culture and how every sector within the food industry can benefit from reading the series.
• Food safety maturity of culture
• Balancing food safety with other business goals.

Related Content:
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Distribution (June/July 2017)
The Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture: Primary Production (April/May 2017)
Supply Chain and Food Safety Culture (Feb/March 2017)

News Mentioned in This Episode
CDC: Raw Milk, Cheese Cause Almost All Dairy Foodborne Illnesses
No More Appeals for Former Egg Executives
Study: Effective Handwashing Does Not Require Hot Water
FSMA's Foreign Supplier Verification Program Rule Now Final

Sponsored by:

Roka Bioscience has partnered with Primus Laboratories and Azzule Systems to deliver another impactful, practical and free webinar on June 28th at 2:00 PM EST.

Food Safety Pixels to Pictures: Sharpening the Food Safety Picture with Actionable Data, this webinar will provide a step by step review of the importance of building a foundation with accurate data, a trusted lab partner, as well as how data management solutions can bring all the data into focus. It will also include a real-world application to show how this is being used to navigate the new regulatory landscape. 

Sign Up for the Food Safety Pixels to Pictures Webinar

Larry Keener has a long record of involvement, both nationally and internationally, with food industry issues. He is the current vice president and co-chair of the Austrian-based Global Harmonization Initiative, an organization founded in 2004 to promote harmonization of food safety legislation and regulations. He is president and chief executive officer of Seattle-based International Product Safety Consultants, Inc.—a global leader in providing food safety and food technology solutions to the food processing industry for a broad client base of Fortune 500 food companies, academic research institutes, and government agencies. Also, Larry has written and published more than 100 scientific papers and numerous book chapters on food safety, microbiology, and process validation. He is a frequently invited speaker to the food industry, business and scientific conferences, workshops, and seminars. 

Larry is an internationally regarded microbiologist and process authority in the food industry, and frequently works with food companies in this capacity to communicate the processor's regulatory responsibilities, assess risk and adequacy of controls for entire processing operations from raw materials receipt to finished product storage and distribution, and provide advice and direction with regard to regulatory impact and food safety risk that changes in operations might cause. As such, his areas of expertise range from applied food microbiology and sanitation methods, the development and application of thermal and non-thermal processing and preservation technologies, including high-pressure processing, microwave and pulsed electric field, high-powered ultrasound and design and implementation of food safety management and control systems and strategies.

Finally, Food Safety Magazine is proud to have Larry as a member of our editorial advisory board.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Larry Keener about:

• His leadership role with the Global Harmonization Initiative
• Four cutting-edge technologies in food processing
• How regulatory agencies react to new food processing and manufacturing technologies
• What it's like working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety Inspection Service when presenting new food processing methods and technologies
• How many of you are in manufacturing? Understanding your role in making food safe
• Acceptance of hygienic facility design
• Larry's thoughts on the possibility of reduced government funding for food safety initiatives
• Larry's scheduled Keynote Address at the 2017 Institute of Food Technologists-European Federation of Food Science and Technology International Nonthermal Processing Conference

Larry Keener's Articles Published in Food Safety Magazine:
Novel Food Safety Technologies Emerge in Food Production (Feb/March 2015)
Shedding Light on Food Safety: Applications of Pulsed Light Processing (June/July 2014)
The Squeaky Wheel: Is Transportation the Watershed for Food Safety and Food Defense? (Aug/Sep 2013) 
Ex Ante or Ex Post Food Safety Strategies: Process Validation versus Inspection and Testing (June/July 2011)
Hurdling New Technology Challenges: Investing in Process Validation of Novel Technologies (Feb/March 2006)

Looking for more on Larry Keener? Search FoodSafetyMagazine.com

Bob Ferguson's Food Safety Insights Articles:
Food Safety Insights: A Look at the Microbiology Testing Market (Feb/March 2017)
Food Safety Insights: The Drivers of Differences in Food Safety Testing Practices (April/May 2017)
What Industry and FDA Are Thinking About FSMA Implementation (June/July 2017)
A Closer Look at Environmental Monitoring in the Processing Plant (August/September 2017)

News and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
FSMA Tips Dominate 2017 Food Safety Summit

Sponsored by:

David M. Theno, Ph.D., is currently CEO of Gray Dog Partners, Inc., a Del Mar, a California-based technical consulting business specializing in food safety, food manufacturing, restaurant operations, supply chain management and strategic planning.

Theno is most widely known for the role he assumed with Jack in the Box (JIB) after the fast-food chain experienced a tragic and massive foodborne illness outbreak in 1993. He joined the team as JIB's senior vice president and chief food safety officer, developing a comprehensive Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plan for the chain, as well as a finished product testing protocol that initially irked his former meat industry colleagues.

Theno also held previous food safety and quality management roles with Foster Farms, Kellogg’s, Armour Food Company and Peter Eckrich & Sons, Inc. He holds a B.Sc. in zoology and science journalism from Iowa State University and earned both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in food microbiology and animal sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We regret to share that Dave Theno passed away unexpectedly as a result of a swimming accident on June 20, 2017. Dave's generous offer to have listeners call him was 100% genuine -- and an example of the important role of mentor that he so completely embodied. You can read more about how the industry remembered Dave Theno in the tribute in our August/September 2017 issue.

Related Content
Jack in the Box: Fostering Food Safety Through Great Partnering
Dave Theno: Remembering The Man Behind the Headlines

News Mentioned in This Episode
Trump's Acting Solicitor Opposes High Court Review for DeCoster
General Mills Invests $16M in Food Safety
Campylobacter and Salmonella Top Foodborne Illnesses in 2016

Sponsored by:

Food Safety Magazine's editorial team, Barbara Van Renterghem, Ph.D., editorial director, Tiffany Maberry, digital editor, and Stacy Atchison, publisher, talk about what to expect from our new podcast—Food Safety Matters.

New episodes are posted twice a month.