Earlier this month, the Food Safety Magazine team gathered in Salt Lake City, UT for the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). The IAFP Annual Meeting was attended by more than 3,800 top industry, academic, and governmental food safety professionals from six continents. Each year, this premiere event for industry professionals convenes and discusses current and emerging food safety issues, the latest science, and innovative solutions to new and recurring problems. The meeting also presents opportunities to network with thousands of food safety professionals from around the globe.

While in Salt Lake City, we invited experts from across the industry to come to our booth and chat with us about all things food safety. Some of those impromptu conversations and interviews are included in our 30th installment of the Food Safety Matters podcast.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we spoke to a number of food safety professionals about a variety of hot topics:

Tim Stubbs, National Dairy Council (NDC)

• NDC's role within the dairy industry, resources provided, etc.
• Various food technologies including atmospheric cold plasma for packaging treatment, antimicrobial use in cheese, and more
• Advances inl food safety and technology in the next three to five years.

Will Daniels, IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group

• The romaine lettuce outbreak that originated in the Yuma, AZ, growing region (desert Southwest) and new food safety issues that have been brought to the forefront because of it
• One health concept: Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and soil… the connection between the animal world and the produce world
• Reducing microbial shedding events
• Community relations and food safety
• Lessons learned from the Earthbound Farms spinach outbreak
• Communicating risk within an organization, and publicly 

Paul Kiecker, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

• His roles within USDA
• What “modernizing” does (and does not) mean
• What food companies should expect
• USDA inspection roles (vs. U.S. Food and Drug Administration roles)
• Top priorities at USDA in terms of modernization
• Progress with pathogen sampling and whole-genome sequencing use
• Salmonella as an adulterant
• Standard setting for Campylobacter

Carmen Rottenberg, USDA

• An in-depth conversation about USDA's study on consumer handwashing, meal preparation, and thermometer use

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.

Kimberly Baker, Ph.D. serves as the Food Systems and Safety Program Team Director and an Associate Extension Specialist with the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service. She received her Ph.D. in Food Technology from Clemson University and is both a registered and licensed dietitian, as well as a trained chef.

Natalie Rainer, J.D., M.P.H. is a Partner and a Member of K&L Gates LLP's Health Care and FDA practice. She focuses her practice primarily in the food and beverage industry. Natalie practices food and drug law, advising clients on regulatory requirements for foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and food and drug packaging in jurisdictions around the world, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Peter Coneski, Ph.D. is a Senior Scientific Advisor in K&L Gates LLP's Health Care and FDA practice. He provides technical assistance in evaluating the regulatory compliance of food additives and food contact materials in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. He also develops strategic testing plans and protocols for analytical data acquisition that support industry filings to regulatory agencies globally. In addition to his work related to food additives and food packaging materials, Peter advises clients on global sustainability initiatives, Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, and compliance with emerging legislations impacting companies operating in a global marketplace. 

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.