The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, an arm of the national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Stop Foodborne Illness  announced its 2025 Mentorship Program companies: Lakeside Foods, Bread Alone Bakery, and LifeLine Foods.

The Mentorship Program is a year-long, virtual workshop hosted by the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness. It is designed for small and medium-sized food companies to improve their food safety culture through direct support from large global brands.

Together, mentees will work through the Alliance’s award-winning Food Safety Culture Toolkit, while simultaneously providing feedback on how these resources can be better tailored to meet the needs of smaller companies across the industry. Mentees will attend a monthly meeting to share best practices and troubleshoot collective roadblocks, with special guest presentations from industry leaders.

Mentees will also have access to exclusive food safety culture working groups, virtual and in-person meetings, and various other events to network and learn from the best of the best in the industry.

This year’s mentees were selected based on an application and interview

“We had a number of very strong applications to choose from and the decision wasn’t easy, but ultimately we selected three companies who are deeply committed to improving their food safety culture,” said Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Alliance Director at Stop Foodborne Illness. “We are so thrilled to launch this mentorship program and look forward to the multi-directional learning that will happen within the cohort, from the bigger companies to the mentees, and maybe most importantly, what these smaller companies can teach us.”

“Too many people get sick and die each year from preventable foodborne illnesses. We are looking to raise all boats with the Mentorship program,” said Sandra Eskin, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness. “This program is just one innovative way the Alliance is working to bend the curve of foodborne illness. I can’t wait to see all they accomplish!”