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

Resources
Michigan State University's Food Processing and Innovation Center  
Neogen and MSU's FPIC Partnership
Neogen Organic Food Safety Testing

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Samuel [24:29] about:

• The typical process for developing and implementing new food safety regulations
• The lengthy steps necessary to enact accurate and helpful allergen labels
• Why it can take years for food regulations to be implemented
• Various scientific and technical challenges that can impede the regulatory process
• How buy-in is achieved by Codex with so many regions and countries to consider
• The Global Food Safety Partnership
• Challenges that can arise when helping other countries to develop their food-related regulations
• How the academic sector falls short when it comes to training the next generation of food scientists
• His future plans to help improve risk management practices for food allergic consumers

Bob Ferguson's Food Safety Insights [11:08]
Bob joins us to discuss findings from his most recent survey and article in the February/March 2019 issue
Recalls and Outbreaks: How WGS Will Change the Rules.

Want more from Bob Ferguson? Find more of his articles and podcast segments.

News Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Releases Overview of the Latest Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak [01:50] 
Investigation Summary: Factors Potentially Contributing to the Contamination of Romaine Lettuce Implicated in the Fall 2018 Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 
Consolidated Appropriations Act (Fiscal Year 2019 Federal Government Budget) [08:08]
A Look Back at 2018 Food Recalls [09:20]

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

Resources
Michigan State University's Food Processing and Innovation Center  
Neogen and MSU's FPIC Partnership
Neogen Organic Food Safety Testing

Sponsored by:

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 

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

Related Content 
7 Steps of Effective Wet Sanitation 
10 Principles of Sanitary Design

News Mentioned in This Episode
Three Face Jail in the Netherlands for Links to Horsemeat Scandal [2:26]
BBC News explains the complex horsemeat supply chain 
Dr. Mindy Brashears Named USDA's Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety [5:43]
Former FDA Leader Tells How Shutdown Will Impact Food Safety [7:31]
Workers Are Retaliating Against Peers Coming to Work by "Sick Shaming" Them [12:07]

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
• HACCP and food safety culture

Related Content 
BOOK: HACCP: A Practical Approach

Bob Ferguson's Food Safety Insights Articles
Processors Increasingly Turning to Testing for Allergen Control (December 2018/January 2019)
The Uphill Path to FSMA Compliance (October/November 2018)
Lessons Learned: Careers in Food Safety (August/September 2018)
Listeria: An Important Focus of Environmental Monitoring (June/July 2018)
Sanitation Verification for Allergen Control (April/May 2018)
Testing and Sanitation for Allergen Control (February/March 2018) 
Outsourcing: Pathogen Testing under the Microscope (December 2017/January 2018)
The New Face of Sanitation Programs: New Rules, New Challenges (October/November 2017)
A Closer Look at Environmental Monitoring in the Processing Plant (August/September 2017)
What Industry and FDA Are Thinking About FSMA Implementation (June/July 2017)
The Drivers of Differences in Food Safety Testing Practices (April/May 2017)
A Look at the Microbiology Testing Market (February/March 2017)

News Mentioned in This Episode
FDA Food Inspections "Sharply Reduced" Amid Partial Government Shutdown | UPDATE: Unpaid FDA Workers Resume High-Risk Food Inspections 
CDC Declares Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Over 
Draining Canal May Reveal Answers About Romaine Contamination 

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

Related Content and Resources:
National Food Crime Unit 
FIIN 
The Institute for Global Food Security - Current Research, including the Three Grand Challenges

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.

Topics Discussed:
CDC's official list of foodborne outbreaks by year 
Update since recording: FDA Narrows Down Contaminated Lettuce Origin to 33 Distributors, Growers, and Farms  
South African Court Close to Certifying Class Action in World's Worst Listeriosis Outbreak  
Chipotle's Head of Food Safety to Exit in 2019

Previous Episodes That Discuss Romaine Lettuce and Fresh Produce: 
Ep. 15. Will Daniels: "It was a game changer for the industry."
Ep. 28. Bob Brackett: Innovation and Research at IIT & IFSH 
Ep. 32. Frank Yiannas: Leading Food Safety at the World's Largest Retailer 
Ep. 37. Keith Warriner: Produce, Biosensors, and Successful Research  

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 

Related Content:
Best Practices in Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication

News Mentioned in This Episode:
Don't Eat Romaine Lettuce, Says CDC 
46 Tons of Jennie-O Turkey Products Recalled in Relation to Ongoing Multistate Salmonella Outbreak 
Supreme Court Won't Review Michael Parnell's Case Related to Deadly Outbreak