HIGHLIGHTS

Food Safety Matters is the podcast for food safety professionals, hosted by Food Safety Magazine—the leading media brand in food safety for over 20 years. Each episode features a conversation with a food safety professional sharing their experiences and insights on the important job of safeguarding the world’s food supply. New episodes are posted twice per month; a selection of our recent episodes are highlighted below.

Episode 171:

Kathleen (Kathy) Glass, Ph.D., Associate Director, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison and recipient of Food Safety Magazine's 2024 Distinguished Service Award

In this interview, we discuss Kathy's research and work at the Food Research Institute, which has enabled her to influence and promote food safety in academia, in industry, among the public, and to the government, and which led her peers to nominate and select her as the recipient of Food Safety Magazine's 2024 Distinguished Service Award. Notably, her work in challenge studies has led to safer products, better understanding of shelf life, and improved product development.

Bonus Episode: World Food Safety Day

Mark (Mick) Miklos, CP-FS, Partner and Advisor, Active Food Safety LLC and former Vice President of Food Safety and Training, Waffle House

Aligning with the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' 2024 World Food Safety Day theme of "Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected," Mick discusses how he led food safety teams during his time at Waffle House to prepare for unexpected threats to operations and food safety, such as natural disasters and other national and regional emergencies, which he discusses in his Food Safety Leadership in the Business of Food Safety book chapter. Waffle House's well-executed emergency operating plans also led FEMA to informally measure the severity of storms in the U.S. by applying the "Waffle House Test" to storm-impacted areas.

Episode 170:

Barbara Kowalcyk, Ph.D., M.A., Director, Food Policy Institute, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University

In this interview, we discuss Dr. Kowalcyk's career as a food safety professional, her role as Inaugural Director of the Food Policy Institute at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, and her goals for the Institute. We also touch on her previous work as Director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI) at Ohio State University, and her experience working on the Independent Expert Panel that conducted the operational evaluation of the FDA for the Reagan-Udall Foundation.

Bonus Episode:

Live from the Food Safety Summit: Part 2

Part 2 of this special episode features live interviews with speakers from the 2024 Food Safety Summit, which took place in Rosemont, Illinois from May 6–9, 2024. Editorial interviews include a discussion with the founders of nonprofit industry group Women in Food Safety, Melody Ge (Starkist Co.), Dr. Jacqueline Southee (Foundation FSSC), and Jill Hoffman (B&G Foods); guidance on how to address food allergens as food safety professionals with Chirag Bhatt, Director of Regulatory Affairs at HS GovTech Solutions and Jorge Hernandez, Vice President of Quality Assurance at The Wendy's Company; and insights on a new future for food auditing with Marc Cwikowski and Tülay Kahraman, Co-Founders of World of Auditing.

Episode 169:

Live from the Food Safety Summit: Part 1

Part 1 of this special episode features live interviews with speakers from the 2024 Food Safety Summit, which took place in Rosemont, Illinois from May 6–9, 2024. Editorial interviews include a discussion about food safety culture and the Stop Foodborne Illness–FDA partnership with Mitzi Baum, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness and Dr. Conrad Choiniere, Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs (acting) at FDA CFSAN; insights into the intersections of cannabis and food, including industry and regulatory developments, with Lori Dodson, Senior Advisor at the Maryland Cannabis Administration and Dr. Kathy Knutson, Founder of Kathy Knutson Food Safety Consulting; and a look inside legacy facilities, equipment, and food safety with Larry Keener, President and CEO of International Product Safety Consultants and Liz Presnell, Food Industry Consultant and Attorney at Food Industry Counsel LLC.

Episode 168:

Francine Shaw, CP-FS, FMP, Founder and CEO, Savvy Food Safety Inc. and author of Who Watches the Kitchen?

In this episode, we are joined by Francine Shaw, CP-FS, FMP, Founder and CEO of Savvy Food Safety Inc. and author of Who Watches the Kitchen? for a discussion about foodservice food safety, including topics like common food safety mistakes and mitigation practices, technologies for retail food safety, and more. Additionally, Bob Ferguson discusses his latest “Food Safety Insights” column on food safety professionals’ thoughts about the future of rapid testing.

Episode 167:

James (Jim) Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

In this episode, we are joined by James (Jim) Jones, FDA's first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, about his charge of implementing and leading a unified and effective Human Foods Program, the importance of stakeholder engagement in decision-making, the takeaways from the field tours that Jim has been making at industry and agency sites across the country, and the FDA's current work in food safety. We also discuss the emerging patchwork of state regulations on food additives, and FDA's desire to get ahead of state regulations with a more ambitious chemical safety agenda, as well as recent public health events caused by the contamination of certain foods for infants and young children, and FDA's work with manufacturers of these foods to ensure food safety and maintain supply volumes.