Dr. John Spink is the director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University (MSU). Over the years, John's research has focused on economically motivated food adulteration, including the use of adulterant substances, counterfeit products, stolen goods, smuggled goods, tampering and intentional mislabeling. His leadership positions include product fraud related activities with the International Organization for Standardization, Global Food Safety Initiative's (GFSI's) Food Fraud Think Tank, and U.S. Pharmacopeia. 

John's global activities include engagements with the European Commission, INTERPOL and Operation Opson, New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries. He also serves as the advisor on food fraud to the Chinese National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. John's outreach includes MSU’s biannual Food Fraud Massive Open Online Course that offers free training and certificates online.

In addition to John's many involvements throughout the food industry, he is also a frequent contributor to Food Safety Magazine.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to John Spink about:

• MSU's work in studying how companies and governments make decisions related to food
• Food safety vs. food fraud and why these two entities deserve to be looked at separately
• Why food fraud prevention is more important than simply discovering new cases of food fraud
• The many different types of food fraud and how criminals are getting even more sophisticated with their methods
• The Food Safety Modernization Act: where food fraud fits in, and where it doesn't
• Sudan red, melamine, horse meat and how these food fraud cases have brought the problem to the forefront
• Upcoming regulations and requirements for companies who want to be GFSI-compliant
• The Codex Alimentarius global food code
• How criminology, consumer behavior and other disciplines play a role in food fraud prevention

John Spink's Articles Published in Food Safety Magazine
Food Fraud Vulnerability Assessment and Prefilter for FSMA, GFSI and SOX Requirements (Feb/March 2017)
Economically Motivated Adulteration: Broadening the Focus on Food Fraud (Aug/Sep 2014)
COVER STORY: Economically Motivated Adulteration: Another Dimension of the Expanding Umbrella of Food Defense (Oct/Nov 2013)

Related Content:
MSU Joins Codex for New Food Fraud Undertaking
IUFoST Bulletin Examines Worldwide Food Fraud Problem
Trends and Solutions in Combating Global Food Fraud
The Food Safety Challenge of the Global Food Supply Chain

About Don Schaffner
Dr. Donald W. Schaffner is Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers University. He has published over 150 peer reviews papers on a variety of topics including handwashing, cross-contamination, quantitative microbial risk assessment and predictive food microbiology. Dr. Schaffner has served on a variety of national and international expert committees, including service to U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization. He is active in several scientific associations including the International Association for Food Protection where he is a past-president. He holds a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the University of Georgia. Don co-hosts a podcast—Food Safety Talk—on microbial food safety. 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Congressional Research Service on Food Fraud (included Food Protection Risk Matrix)
GFSI White Paper: Position Paper on Mitigating the Public Health Risk of Food Fraud
SSAFE
Codex Alimentarius
Handwashing: Cool Water as Effective as Hot for Removing Germs
Quantifying the Effects of Water Temperature, Soap Volume, Lather Time, and Antimicrobial Soap as Variables in the Removal of Escherichia coli ATTC 11229 from Hands
 

Would you like to tell us what you think about Food Safety Matters so far? Do you have a suggestion on who we should interview? Are there hot topics you'd like us to cover? Email us at podcast@foodsafetymagazine.com.

Savannah Applegate, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Applegate received her B.S. degree in Meat Science from Ohio State University and her M.S. degree and Ph.D. in Applied Food Microbiology from Texas Tech University. Her areas of expertise are meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in diagnostics and pathogen mitigation.

Alfredo Fernández, J.D. is an attorney and Partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP. As a member of the firm's national Environmental Practice, Alfredo advises clients across industry types on environmental, health, and safety issues that arise in all areas of business operations. Risk management pertaining to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is one area of focus. Alfredo also counsels private and public entities regarding abatement of hazardous materials and conditions. He received his J.D. from University of Connecticut School of Law and holds a B.S. degree from the University of Michigan.

Edward G. Dudley, Ph.D. is the Director of the E. coli Reference Center and a Professor of Food Science at the Pennsylvania State University. He has a broad background in molecular biology, physiology, and foodborne bacteria genomics, with expertise in both beneficial and pathogenic species. His current research program focuses on factors that drive the virulence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and the development of DNA sequence-based methods for tracking pathogen spread during foodborne illness outbreaks, including wastewater monitoring. 

Phil Kafarakis is the President and CEO of IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, formerly known as the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. He is responsible for overseeing IFMA's day-to-day operations and directing the activities of the association in support of its policies, goals, and objectives. Phil is a highly accomplished senior executive with broad experience leading major food industry companies and associations. He began his industry career in the manufacturing sector, successfully leading and managing businesses at Kraft, Jones Dairy Farm, Cargill, and McCormick & Co., where he also served on IFMA's Board of Directors. He also previously served as President of the Specialty Food Association (SFA) and as the Chief Innovation and Member Advancement Officer at the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

Mark Carter is the Senior Software Product Manager at Hygiena. He assumed the presidency of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) at the conclusion of the IAFP Annual Meeting in July 2024.

Mr. Carter has extensive international business and technical experience. He most recently served as COO of Matrix Sciences, as well as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, where he was responsible for Matrix Sciences Mergers and Acquisitions activity. He previously held positions as CEO of QC Laboratories and Corporate Vice President of Research and Development with the Silliker Group Corporation (now Mérieux NutriSciences). He has served within the food industry as Section Manager for Microbiology and Food Safety at Kraft Foods and Corporate Laboratory Group Leader at McKee Foods Corporation.

Jason Evans, Ph.D. is the Dean of the College of Food Innovation and Technology (CFIT) at Johnson & Wales University, which offers baccalaureate and graduate programming in Culinary Arts, Culinary Science, Culinary Nutrition, Food and Beverage Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Food Systems.