Barbara interviews Deirdre Schlunegger, the CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness. Stop Foodborne Illness is a national nonprofit public health organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens. Their mission is to promote sound food safety policy and best practices, build public awareness and assist those impacted by foodborne illness.

Stop Foodborne Illness was founded in 1993 in the wake of the Jack-in-the-Box E. coli outbreak by a group of foodborne illness victims and friends in order to address the void they saw in the national food policy arena.

Since then, Stop Foodborne Illness has become a respected leader in consumer advocacy and is regularly consulted by government officials, industry leaders, academia, public health organizations, members of Congress, and the media on issues concerning food safety.

Deirdre joined Stop Foodborne Illness in August 2010 bringing over 25 years of nonprofit and leadership experience. She serves as an advisory member of the Joint Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition and is a participating member of the Safe Food Coalition and the Make Our Food Safe Coalition and serves as Commissioner of the International Food Science Certification Commission.

If you would like to become involved with Stop Foodborne Illness's advocacy work, you can call them directly at 773-269-6555 or visit StopFoodborneIllness.org.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Deirdre Schlunegger about:

• The founding of Stop Foodborne Illness
• How the organization has helped to motivate regulatory reform, particularly via the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Food Safety Modernization Act
• Stop Foodborne Illness's consumer outreach efforts, especially for food outbreaks and recalls
• Consumer materials made available via Stop Foodborne Illness on topics such as handwashing, grocery shopping, food handling and preparation
• Positive cultural shifts that have taken place within the organization to a more cooperative approach with industry
• The impact of telling stories to workers in the food industry vs. relying on training/technical videos
• The Stop Foodborne Illness honor wall, a collection of stories from families who have been personally impacted by foodborne illness
• The Dave Theno Food Safety Fellowship
• Future projects and collaborations with food companies, government groups, and consumer communities

Related Content and Resources:
Donate Now: Stop Foodborne Illness
Dave Theno Food Safety Fellowship
Stop Foodborne Illness Stories & Honor Wall
Video: The WHY Behind Food Safety
Food Marketing Institute
Fightbac
Ask Karen
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline: 888-MPHotline or 800-535-4555 

News Mentioned in This Episode: 
U.S. Says E. coli Outbreaks is "Likely Leafy Greens" While Canada Declares Outbreak Over
FSIS Works to Make Eggs Safer
Worst Ever Listeria Outbreak Plaguing South Africa

Lucy Angarita is the Director of Food Supply Chain visibility at GS1 US, where she works with retail, grocery, foodservice, and healthcare companies to increase data quality, operational efficiencies, and full supply chain traceability. With over 20 years of experience in program management and process improvement, as well as a Six Sigma Black Belt certification, she has a passion for solving complex problems and delivering value to customers and stakeholders.

Haley F. Oliver, Ph.D. is the Director of the Feed the Future Food Safety Innovation Lab at Purdue University. She is also the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars and the 150^th Anniversary Professor of Food Science at Purdue University, renowned for her expertise in food safety microbiology. She earned dual B.S. degrees in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from the University of Wyoming in 2004, followed by a Ph.D. in Food Science, with minors in Epidemiology and Microbiology, from Cornell University in 2009. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell, Dr. Oliver joined Purdue University in 2010. 

Justyce Jedlicka serves as the Food and Beverage Regulatory Liaison in North America for MilliporeSigma, where she is responsible for engaging with influencers in the food and beverage industry to align initiatives with regulatory compliance and promote best practices for food safety and quality testing methods. Justyce has been serving the food and beverage industry since 2013, and received both a B.S. degree in Chemistry and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Missouri in St. Louis. She currently serves as the Food Sciences Section Chair and Executive Board Member of the American Council of Independent Labs, and is a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT), and AOAC International.

Sally Powell Price is MilliporeSigma's Regulatory and Public Health Expert for Food and Beverage Safety Testing in North America. Previously, she served as Director of Lab Operations at a biotech startup in Boston and was the Food Lab Supervisor at the New York City Department of Health Public Health Laboratory. She holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Hamilton College, an M.S. degree in Microbiology and Immunology from James Cook University in Australia, and did continuing coursework in public health and foodborne disease at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She is a member of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), and AOAC International.

Thomas Gremillion, J.D., M.A. is the Director of Food Policy at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). He oversees research, analysis, advocacy, and media outreach for the group's food policy activities, and monitors food safety activities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and in Congress, where he advocates for strong food safety protections for consumers. He also coordinates the Safe Food Coalition, a group of consumer, trade union, and foodborne illness victim organizations dedicated to reducing foodborne illness by improving government food inspection programs.

Paul Shapiro is the author of the bestselling book, Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World. He is also CEO of The Better Meat Co., a company that uses fermentation to turn microbes into alternative meat. Paul is a five-time TEDx speaker, the host of the Business for Good Podcast, and a long-time leader in food sustainability.

As an authority on food and agriculture sustainability, Paul has been interviewed by numeorous news outlets—ranging from CNN to StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson. He has also published hundreds of articles in publications like the Washington Post, Scientific American, FORTUNE, and academic journals. In 2023, Paul was named as a Most Admired CEO by the Sacramento Business Journal.

Johanna Velez is Vice President of Quality Assurance for Monin Americas, having joined the brand in 2002. With more than 27 years in the food industry, Johanna has a wealth of experience in leading, directing, and guiding the company’s food safety and quality programs at all Monin North America locations. She successfully led Monin to achieve Safe Quality Foods (SQF) and Organic certifications for both the Clearwater, Florida and Sparks, Nevada facilities, resulting in an "Excellent" rating for the brand’s food safety practices. Prior to Monin, Johanna spent five years at Wild Flavors (now Archer-Daniels-Midland Company) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), including the Florida IFT Division, as well as the Bay Area Manufacturers Association (BAMA). Johanna graduated from Louisiana State University and later attended Michigan State University to obtain her certification in Food Law and Regulations.