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Food Safety Matters

Food Safety Matters

Written by: Food Safety Magazine
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Food Safety Matters is a podcast for food safety professionals hosted by the Food Safety Magazine editorial team – the leading media brand in food safety for over 20 years. Each episode will feature a conversation with a food safety professional sharing their experiences and insights into the important job of safeguarding the world's food supply.2025 Food Safety Magazine Art Cooking Food & Wine Nature & Ecology Science
Episodes
  • Elanco: Spring and Summer Pest Pressure—Smart Insecticide Strategies for Poultry Producers

    Elanco: Spring and Summer Pest Pressure—Smart Insecticide Strategies for Poultry Producers
    May 28 2026

    Alissa Welsher, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Welsher received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, a master's degree in poultry science, and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Arkansas. Her area of expertise is in meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in integrated pest management (IPM).

    In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Dr. Welsher [1:39] about:

    • Why pests become more problematic for poultry operations in the spring and summer months and which pets are of particular concern
    • How pests in preharvest poultry operations are related to food safety threats like Salmonella that persist throughout production
    • The importance and core pillars of a robust IPM program
    • How chemical solutions like insecticides can provide an additional layer of defense alongside strong IPM
    • Best practices for insecticide application to maximize effectiveness and mitigate resistance
    • Different insecticide products and how they act on insects in all life stages
    • The benefits of working with an expert IPM and insecticide partner like Elanco to ensure effective and proper insect control, especially moving into spring and summer.

    Resources

    Elanco Poultry Food Safety Solutions

    Sponsored by:

    Elanco

    We Want to Hear from You!

    Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com
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    24 mins
  • Ep. 218. Dr. Brady Carter: Water Activity, Shelf-Life Validation, and Food Safety Controls

    Ep. 218. Dr. Brady Carter: Water Activity, Shelf-Life Validation, and Food Safety Controls
    May 26 2026
    Brady Carter, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientific Officer at Carter Scientific Solutions. He specializes in water activity, moisture sorption, shelf-life stability, plant science, and wheat production and quality. He has 23 years of experience in research and development and previously was a Research Professor at Washington State University focusing on wheat end-use quality. Dr. Carter has pioneered work in using dynamic isotherms to investigate product stability and establish critical water activities for optimal shelf life. He also specializes in shelf-life loss and effective utilization of instrumentation to address product safety and quality issues. Dr. Carter holds a Ph.D. in Crop Science and Food Engineering and an M.S degree in Cereal Chemistry and Crop Science from Washington State University, as well as a B.A. degree in Botany from Weber State University. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Dr. Carter [41:18] about: The basics of water activity, including how it is measured and how it differs from moisture contentThe influence of water activity on food safety and shelf life, and how water activity data can support the validation of shelf-life claimsWays manufacturers can incorporate water activity into their shelf-life and food safety testing, and during research and development when formulating productsRegulatory expectations around water activity monitoring as part of validation and verificationThe realities of water activity measurement that make real-time, inline testing impractical with current technologyHow water activity monitoring can help mitigate food wasteThe importance of the statement, "water activity is the energy of water." News and Resources News Donald Prater Becomes New Head of FDA Human Foods Program [16:54]FDA Commissioner Steps Down, To Be Replaced by Agency's Human Foods LeaderTop U.S. Food Safety Officials Discuss Regulatory Landscape at Food Safety Summit FDA Encourages Industry to Develop Best Practices, Use Root Cause Analyses [20:30] FDA Finalizes Systematic Post-Market Food Chemical Review Process [21:34] FDA Launches One-Day Inspectional Assessments [22:30] Scientists Tackle Food Waste with More Accurate 'Sell By' Dates Based on Meat Microbial Activity [27:42] Monitoring Data Show EU Food Mostly Compliant with Pesticide Limits [35:58] Resources Food Safety Rockstar T-Shirts on Amazon (BE ADVISED: they run small) We Want to Hear from You! Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Live from the 2026 Food Safety Summit—Part 2

    Live from the 2026 Food Safety Summit—Part 2
    May 21 2026

    To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2026 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Roberta Wagner, M.Sc., Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA); Steven Mandernach, J.D., Executive Director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and Sandra Eskin, J.D., CEO of STOP Foodborne Illness; Jacob Nelson, Asset Protection Sales Manager at the Sherwin-Williams Company and Feraas Aiameh, Food and Beverage Marketing Manager at the Sherwin-Williams Company; Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Office of Microbiological Food Safety, Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, and Lone Jespersen, Ph.D., Founder and Principal of Cultivate SA; and Cindy Jiang, Senior Director, Global Food Safety Risk Management, Global Supply Chain at McDonald's (retired).

    In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with:

    • Ms. Wagner about food ingredient safety and labeling trends, policy developments, and risk communication [2:48]
    • Mr. Mandernach and Ms. Eskin about progress and gaps in the implementation of FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the 15 years since it was passed [26:19]
    • Mr. Nelson and Mr. Aiameh about a facility lifecycle approach to food safety [47:37]
    • Drs. Choiniere, Coffman, and Jespersen about perspectives, challenges, and opportunities related food safety culture across sectors [1:16:42]
    • Ms. Jiang about practical applications for artificial intelligence (AI) in food safety. [1:44:37]

    Sponsored by: Sherwin Williams

    We Want to Hear from You!

    Please send us your questions and suggestions to podcast@food-safety.com
    Show More Show Less
    2 hrs and 8 mins
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