Deirdre Schlunegger, STOP Foodborne Illness
Food Safety Culture Club

Ten Years and Counting: Advocating Change

By Deirdre Schlunegger
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Deirdre Schlunegger, STOP Foodborne Illness

It’s been a decade since the widespread E. coli outbreak in spinach sparked a movement in food safety.

According to the CDC, people from 26 states were reported to have E. coli O157:H7 from fresh spinach: This month marks 10 years since this outbreak wreaked havoc on the lives of 205 confirmed persons, three of whom lost their lives. Something in the system, and the process, definitely needed to be fixed. A sea change was in order.

At the 2016 Food Safety Consortium, STOP Foodborne Illness will have a fundraiser to honor heroes in food safety. |December  6, 2016, 7–9 pm | LEARN MOREAmong those whose lives were irrevocably changed was Rylee Gustafson, a young woman whom STOP Foodborne Illness considers not only a friend and constituent, but also a powerful advocate for change. She was 9 years old when she volunteered to choose what her family was going to eat that day. She chose spinach, and what should have been an insignificant event—dinner with her family—became a monumental force in her life. Rylee was knocked down, but she got back up and has been telling her story, changing people’s lives, and enlightening government and industry decision-makers ever since. Subsequently, Rylee has influenced the life of every American.

Thanks to the hard work of advocates like Rylee, the question of how to create a food safety culture has been making its way into the consciousness of America. In October, STOP Foodborne Illness will be hosting a webinar addressing the very question of creating and sustaining a food safety culture. “Food safety culture” has become a buzz word in the industry. but what steps can be taken to strategically ensure that it not only happens, but that it thrives?

Together with Frank Yiannas, vice president of food safety for Walmart, Mike Taylor, senior fellow at Freedman Consulting, and Steve Schluneger, principal of Intrinsic Leadership, I will present and answer these questions and more during this webinar.

Thanks to the generosity and technical prowess of Food Safety Tech, and our esteemed guests, this event is sure to be a powerful and enlightening discussion.

The webinar is titled, Food Safety Culture: We Know Why, Let’s Talk About How. It takes place from 1-2 pm CST on October 11, 2016. The cost of registration before October 4 is $129. Register here.

Please join us!

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Deirdre Schlunegger, Stop Foodborne Illness

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