Tag Archives: food safety regulation

Morrine Omolo, Ph.D.,
Women in Food Safety

My Food Safety Journey

By Morrine Omolo, Ph.D.
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Morrine Omolo, Ph.D.,

My food safety journey was nurtured at an early age by my parents. I grew up in a farming family in a country (Kenya) where small scale food producers are the backbone of the economy. We lived within an agricultural research institute where my father worked. This enabled me to develop a lived awareness of the myriad of challenges that producers face, including affordable ways to manage pests and other food safety hazards.

Along with food safety, my parents instilled in me fundamental concepts of different ways to combine and prepare foods for optimal nutritional benefit. My late father’s work as a farm manager exposed me to animal and plant health and management, while my mother’s expertise in home economics laid the foundation for what has become my career path.

In my everyday formal and informal interactions with people, I try to inspire a passion for the science of food with special attention to safety. I believe that the debates around sustainability, climate change and food security should more deliberately include food safety as a key element, rather than a tangential afterthought.

The Path to a Career in Food Safety

After high school, I came to the U.S. for higher education, starting out as a Zawadi Africa Education Fund undergraduate scholar in biochemistry. I wanted to go into public health. My initial goal was medical school. However, after several internships shadowing doctors and surgeons and caring for terminally ill cancer patients, I decided to pursue a different path in public health. I chose to work in the food industry for a year, during which I explored opportunities for graduate school. By combining my history in food production, training in biological sciences and desire to contribute meaningfully to human health, I eventually opted to undertake a master’s in food science, studying the antimicrobial properties of plant-based extracts against known foodborne pathogens.

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After completing my master’s, I applied for and was awarded the prestigious Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Fellowship to pursue a doctorate in food science. In my dissertation, I built genome scale metabolic models to explore weaknesses in the Escherichia coli genome that could potentially be exploited by manipulating nutrient components in food matrices. I also evaluated the prevailing approaches to Extension food safety education in Minnesota, and underscored the value of collaboration between regulators, educators, and food producers to achieve ideal culturally relevant education and training. This turned out to be a long and challenging experience that taught me to be patient and resilient. I also learned to advocate for myself and other students.

Finding My Passion

Over time, I became more interested in the safety subfield. I discovered a passion for policy, which narrowed down my career interest to food safety regulations. Through mentorship and deliberate networking, I expanded my understanding of the history of food safety in the U.S., and the role that the Codex Alimentarius plays in the global food system. Some of the Books that shaped my understanding included Outbreak: Foodborne Illness and the Struggle for Food Safety by Lytton, Timothy D., and Food Systems Law by Marne Coit. I was also inspired by my Food Quality professor, whose industry experience brought to life many of the concepts we discussed in class.

After completing my dissertation, I was hired by the University of Minnesota Extension as a food safety specialist. In this capacity, I have two primary roles: research and outreach. My research focuses on the role of human behavior in foodborne illness, and hinges on the concept of food safety culture (the attitudes, beliefs and values about food safety practice). My interest in this specific area was inspired by two books—Food Safety = Behavior: 30 Proven Techniques to Enhance Employee Compliance and Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behavior Based Food Safety System—both written by former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy & Response Frank Yiannas.

I continue to build on the lessons learned from my dissertation, working in collaboration with other scientists across the North Central Region. Specifically, I elevate the knowledge and experiences of local food producers and empower them to prioritize science-based solutions to challenges in formulation, processing, packaging, labeling and points of sale. My goal both through research and outreach is to enable small scale food producers to embody the critical role they play in local food systems, especially because consumers sometimes assume that local food means safe food.

It is not enough for food handlers to learn about food safety, and it is not practical to use scare tactics to get them to comply with regulatory requirements, because these are temporary solutions. Instead, I believe it is critical to alter behavior and the perception of food safety practice. This more readily happens when the handler takes ownership of food safety as part of their value system, rather than as a regulatory obligation.

Challenges Posed by the Growing Cottage Food Industry

The biggest challenge I face in my current role is the growing local food movement and cottage food industry. Today, there are almost 8,000 registered cottage food producers in Minnesota, all of whom can legally produce and sell non-potentially hazardous foods in their uninspected home kitchens. While the Minnesota Cottage Food Law only allows shelf-stable products, other states, such as Wyoming, have broader Food Freedom Laws that allow the sale of products including poultry. The undercurrent driving the local food movement is consumer demand for sustainable, locally sourced food, with a tangible connection to the producer. The chaos in the global food system during the pandemic also contributed to growth in local food supply. While all these changes are positive and contribute to food security and sovereignty, the question of safety still lingers.

Historically, work around the safety of food has focused on corporate manufacturing. Now the tide is slowly shifting towards local food systems, but more needs to be done to understand the food safety culture in this context. Concomitantly, we must develop training and education opportunities that account for the diversity of producers, including emerging (first generation) farmers, farmers practicing covered agriculture, immigrant farmers, and small and medium scale processors. For instance, cottage food producers in Minnesota maintain a list of allowed products, which has to this point been predominantly Eurocentric. However, as a sanctuary state, Minnesota is home to a very diverse population, with more than 150 languages spoken in the Twin Cities. As more immigrants learn about the cottage food industry, newer multi-cultural food items will be considered for inclusion on the list, which requires food safety analysis and shelf-life studies. These challenges present opportunities for collaborative problem solving through research that incorporates existing practical knowledge among key stakeholders.

Thoughts for Students Considering a Career in Food Safety

Food safety professionals choose this path because we deeply care about protecting the consumer. Episodes of foodborne illness are unnecessarily burdensome and quite often life threatening. Additionally, foodborne outbreaks erode consumer trust in the food industry and exert a heavy financial burden on the public health system. Many of the long-term impacts of foodborne illness are unknown to the general public but have devastating effects on patients and their families.

Choosing to be a food safety scientist means becoming an advocate, the voice of millions of people who expect—as they should—that every food item made available to them is inherently safe. It becomes your job to work in collaboration with regulatory authorities to keep unsafe food out of commerce. Sometimes you will be on the processing floor, actively training and managing the production team and ensuring everyone follows the food safety and defense plans. Other times, you will be in the C-Suite, bringing the voice of the food safety team to management to ensure that the company walks the talk when it comes to food safety. And every day, you will be the consumer that relies on the integrity of professionals such as yourself to protect you and your family from foodborne illness.

George Gansner

Now is the Time to Reassess the Food Industry’s Approach to Managing Risk

By George Gansner
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George Gansner

The food industry is under intense scrutiny, with concerns about food safety and quality making headlines around the world. Today, the industry faces unprecedented challenges when it comes to ensuring the safety and security of the global food supply chain. Leaders need to manage known concerns such as foodborne pathogens, food fraud and contamination, as well as emerging challenges, including ingredient scarcity and changes in consumer preferences that have created the need to reformulate recipes quickly, source from new suppliers, and increase imports—all of which contribute to increased risks.

Due to climate change and shifting environmental factors we are seeing crop failures, and new bacteria and antimicrobial resistance to foodborne pathogens, which increase the cost of managing food safety. As consumers demand greater transparency and look to place more trust in the food chain, changing buyer habits further compound these challenges by putting a greater onus on food handling, production, manufacturing, and supply companies to provide more education to consumers about foodborne illnesses.

Recalls are the biggest threat to a brand’s profitability and reputation, and this threat is growing. According to FDA reports, recalls increased by 700% in 2022, with undeclared allergens being the leading cause for the last five years. The Food Safety Authority in the UK tells a similar story with undeclared allergens accounting for 84 of the 150 recalls last year, followed by salmonella, listeria, and foreign body contamination.

As food regulations become more complex to navigate, it is now essential to reassess the industry’s approach to managing risk. Protocols such as VACCP and TACCP are regularly used as part of a solid food defense program to identify risks. But the traditional approach of relying solely on regulations and compliance-based systems is no longer sufficient to ensure food safety in today’s complex, volatile and globalized food supply chains. Now is the time to implement a more holistic and dynamic risk-based approach to managing food safety more effectively.

What Is a Risk-Based Approach to Food Safety?

A risk-based approach allows the industry to proactively identify potential food safety risks and take appropriate measures to mitigate them, rather than simply responding to problems as they arise. For example, mature food businesses are building on food safety management systems with food safety audits to identify and manage risk to stay ahead of the curve. A risk-based approach helps underpin the continuous improvement process and, by doing so, demonstrates the ability of a company to be a trusted partner in the global food supply chain.

One of the key aspects of a risk-based approach to managing food safety is proactive intervention and control, using relevant data analysis stored in a cloud-based platform. All stakeholders need access to accurate and actionable data during risk assessment and management to make informed decisions. However, there are many barriers to accessing risk-related data for smaller operators, many of which are still working in a largely manual way.

Data must be collated from across the business, and multiple data sources need to be collected and appropriately analyzed to protect both the brand and public health. It is estimated that we are at least 10 years away from any type of interoperability of industry data, which will allow better transparency and visibility of risk across the supply chain.

Stay Ahead of Emerging Legislation

Visibility of the emerging legislation in source countries of ingredients and raw materials is critical, as are contingency sourcing plans and good risk analysis protocols. Food integrity needs to be a standing agenda point as part of internal meetings, and ESG policies need to be visibly delivered. The industry needs to ensure that it is aware of changes in regulations that could impact the safety and quality of its products through horizon scanning tools. There is also an onus on the industry to make its risk assessments more dynamic to incorporate change at a frequency that is appropriate for risk evaluation with effective crisis management plans in place.

Supply Chain Management Is Critical

Sourcing raw materials and ingredients across supply chains requires best practices. You must ensure that your supply chain partners and suppliers know how to manage a crisis and that emerging risks are shared across the supply chain. Quality, food safety, and regulatory divisions must actively participate in risk assessments and receive relevant data and communication. ESG policies also need to include the supply chain; leaders in this space need to be able to verify that these policies are delivering.

Marketing claims must be vetted and aligned with regulations and markets where products are sold. Procurement, supply chain and communication, and external partners such as NGOs and consumer associations are important groups to involve in risk profiling and ongoing management. While managing emerging issues and horizon scanning is critical, it is also important to remain vigilant on the basics, as most food safety and allergen incidents are known risks.

Detecting Food Fraud

Opportunistic food fraud cases are rising in the high food inflation market, with recent examples including everything from adulterated honey to the mislabeling of beef. To deter food fraud, businesses need to focus on risk-based auditing and testing through sampling programs. Knowing your supply chain, shopping around safely, being vigilant about ingredients and specifications, utilizing training, and building awareness and readiness are imperative to deter food fraud and create a culture of confidence and greater food safety.

Think Differently About Managing Risk

Now is the time for the food industry to reassess its approach to managing risk. A risk-based approach focusing on prevention, continuous improvement, and stakeholder collaboration is necessary to ensure a safe and secure food supply chain in an increasingly complex and challenging environment. The industry must prioritize data accessibility and accuracy, have a crisis management plan, be aware of emerging legislation, and include ESG policies in its risk management strategies. By focusing on risk-based auditing and testing, the industry can deter food fraud and create a culture of confidence.

The probability of eliminating all risks is very low, so the food industry must pivot and be agile to challenge the traditional approaches to managing food safety. It is time to think differently about managing risk and adopt new practices that promote prevention and collaboration.

Sandra Eskin, OSU

Highlights from Food Safety Tech’s Hazards Conference

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Sandra Eskin, OSU

The Food Safety Tech’s Hazards Conference + CFI Think Tank “Industry & Academia Advancing Food Safety Practices, Technology and Research” took place April 3-5 in Columbus, Ohio. The event offered two days of practical education on the detection, mitigation, control and regulation of key food hazards, followed by discussion geared toward identifying gaps for research and innovation.

Sandra Eskin, OSU

Sandra Eskin, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA FSIS, opened the program to discuss the agency’s proposed Salmonella in poultry framework. She highlighted the need for a more comprehensive approach that includes incentives to bring down the Salmonella load in birds entering the slaughterhouse, enhanced monitoring of safety measures within the facility, and enforceable product standards for raw poultry products.

Day one continued with a focus on Salmonella and Listeria. Barb Masters, VP of Regulatory Policy at Tyson Foods presented “Salmonella: What We’ve Learned and Remaining Gaps in Detection and Mitigation.” Masters highlighted key gaps in Salmonella detection, mitigation and research including:

  • Correlating what comes from the farm to what is entering a plant
  • Potential benefits of quantification testing
  • A better understanding of products that have the highest levels of Salmonella
  • Identification of virulence factors of different serotypes
  • The need for rapid testing methods that can be used at the plant level

Sanja Ilic, Ph.D., presented findings on the risks and most effective mitigation methods for listeria in hydroponic systems, followed by a session from Stacy Vernon, Ph.D., on recent listeria outbreaks in RTE meats and ice cream.

Shawn Stevens and Bill Marler

Attorneys Bill Marler, founder of Marler Clark, and Shawn Stevens of the Food Industry Counsel opened day two with an overview of the legal and financial risks of food safety hazards. The program continued with a focus on detection and mitigation of pathogens and biofilms.

 

Session Highlights

Application of Ozone for Decontamination of Fresh Produce with Al Baroudi, Ph.D., VP of Quality Assurance and Food Safety, The Cheesecake Factory, and Ahmed Yousef, Ph.D., Professor and Researcher with the Department of Food Science & Technology, OSU

Estimating Mycotoxin Exposure in Guatemala and Nigeria with Ariel Garsow, Ph.D., Food Safety Technical Specialist at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Mitigating the Risks of Salmonella and Listeria in Your Facility & Products with Sanjay Gummalla of the American Frozen Food Institute, and Rashmi Rani, Senior Manager of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Schwan’s Foods

How to Use Whole Genome Sequencing in Operations To Improve Food Safety and Root Cause Analysis with Fabien Robert, Head of Zone AMS, Nestlé

Biofilm Prevention and Control Practices with Charles Giambrone, Food Safety Manager, Rochester Midland

On April 5, attendees joined the Ohio State University Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI), founded and directed by Barbara Kowalcyk, for its annual “Think Tank.” The program featured student research presentations and an “Einstein Lunch” that brought members of industry together with graduate students and OSU researchers to identify gaps in research in the areas of pathogen detection and mitigation, handwashing and mycotoxins.

“We’re hoping this is the first of future collaborations with CFI and Food Safety Tech, where we have industry and academia presenting together,” said Rick Biros, founder of Food Safety Tech, the Food Safety Consortium and the Food Safety Tech Hazards Conference series. “This is something I feel both academia and industry benefit from, and I look forward to working with Barbara and CFI in the future.”

“I learned a lot myself, and it was great to see this program come together,” said Kowalcyk. “I want to thank the presenters, attendees and all the people who worked behind the scenes to make this event happen.”

Scenes from Food Safety Hazards Conference + CFI Thinktank

OSU 2023   OSU reception 2023  Sanja Ilic

Al Baroudi and Ahmed Yousef  CFI Think tank 2023  Saldesia OSU

Rick and Barbara Kowalcyk  OSu Reception - Steve Mandernach  Fabien Robert