Home » Multimedia » Podcasts » Food Safety Matters » Ep. 40. Chris Elliott: Food Crime: A Global Challenge
Food Safety Matters
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 of the important job of safeguarding the world’s food supply.
Professor Chris Elliott is the founder of the Institute for Global Food Security and professor of food safety at Queen’s University Belfast. From 2016–2018, he served as pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences in the University, but stepped down from that post recently to concentrate on his world-leading research.
Chris has published more than 350 peer-reviewed articles, many of them relating to the detection and control of agriculture, food, and environmental related contaminants.His main research interests are in the development of innovative techniques to provide early warning of toxin threats across complex food supply systems. Protecting the integrity of the food supply chain from fraud is also a key research topic. Chris led the independent review of Britain’s food system following the 2013 horsemeat scandal.
Over the years, Chris has developed a high-level network of collaborators across Europe, the U.S., and Asia. He is a visiting professor at the China Agriculture University in Beijing and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship, and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Biology, and the Institute of Food Science and Technology.
Chris has received numerous prizes and awards for his work. In 2017, he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Theophilus Redwood Prize and was also awarded the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Chris Elliott about:
The 2013 horsemeat scandal and how he unexpectedly became involved in the investigation
How a complex food supply chain made it easy for cheating and fraud to occur
His recommendation to set up a special police force to begin tracking food-related crimes, which eventually became the UK's National Food Crime Unit
The Food Industry Intelligence Network (FIIN)
The cutting-edge technology that's known as "food fingerprinting" to detect tampering or adulteration
The problem with constant auditing for compliance
The three ground challenges at Queens University
Genetically modified (GM) foods, and the importance of pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides
Concerns about the cocktail effect of eating every day GM foods
Advancements and achievements in the U.S. and Europe vs. in other parts of the world
Brexit and how it may affect current food safety work
Scott Gustin is a native of Gloucester, Virginia, where he grew up on a small family farm raising registered Angus and Hereford cattle. He received his undergraduate degree and veterinary degrees at Virginia Tech in 1999 and 2002, respectively, before continuing on to receive his Masters in Avian Medicine at the University of Georgia. In 2004 Scott began his veterinary career at Cobb-Vantress in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. While at Cobb his roles included technical service for North America and Asia, internal veterinary service, and the World Director for Quality Assurance focusing on Salmonella eradication programs. Following Cobb, Scott worked for Tyson Foods for 12 years as the Managing Director of Veterinary Services for domestic poultry in Springdale, Arkansas. At presnt, Scott is a Technical Advisor for Elanco Animal Health focusing on bird health and food safety.
Brendan A. Niemira, Ph.D. is a research microbiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA's ARS) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of the University of Chicago and Michigan State University. His research develops and validates cold plasma, pulsed light, radiofrequency energy, and other nonthermal food processing technologies. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters, and critical reviews, is the co-editor and author of a well-regarded reference text, and holds one patent. Dr. Niemira is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and a past member of the IFT Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Educational Advisory Board for the Food Safety Summit. A member of IFT, the International Association for Food Protection, and the American Society for Microbiology for more than 20 years, he also serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Food Protection and Applied and Environmental Microbiology. He received the 2016 U.S. Department of Defense Award for Excellence and the 2020 Federal Laboratory Consortium Technology Transfer Innovation Award.
As CEO of STOP Foodborne Illness (STOP) since May 2019, Mitzi Baum, M.Sc. is focused on expanding STOP's impact by concentrating on three strategic areas: families and individuals impacted by foodborne disease, company culture and practice, and food safety policy. By instituting a collaborative, consumer-centric operating model, STOP engages stakeholders across the food system to develop and advance solutions to food safety.
Sarah L. Brew, J.D. leads Faegre Drinker LLP's nationally recognized food litigation and regulatory practice. She is one of the country's leading food lawyers, representing food industry companies in a variety of complex cases, including many of the highest-profile and most media-scrutinized outbreaks and recalls over the past two decades. She also counsels clients on regulatory compliance, guiding them through U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections, recalls, warning letters, and enforcement actions; and advises on food safety, labeling, and marketing regulations and risk management issues. As a leading voice in food law, Sarah speaks nationally at food law conferences and before industry groups.
Joelle Mosso, M.S., is Associate Vice President of Science Programs for Western Growers, where she works alongside growers to develop improved approaches to food safety and sustainability challenges. She is an entrepreneurial scientist with a passion for pathogenic food microbiology, risk assessment, and working toward practical solutions for the food industry. She has a background in quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), building microbial testing laboratories, and evaluating and designing microbial diagnostic tools/approaches, as well as firsthand experience with produce and with managing food safety for complex international supply chains.
Nuno F. Soares, Ph.D., is an author, consultant, and trainer in food safety with more than 21 years of experience in the food industry as a food safety/quality (FSQ) expert and a plant manager. He is the founder of "I'm a SLO—Saving Lives Officer" initiative and the author of several books and articles on food safety, namely FSSC 22000 and ISO 22000 Blueprint and I'm a SLO—The Mindset and Framework to Develop a Positive Food Safety Culture. He works exclusively to help food safety professionals achieve a more fulfilled career by improving their knowledge, competencies, and mindset.