Home » Multimedia » Podcasts » Food Safety Matters » Ep. 45. David Acheson: The Challenges of Communicating Food Safety to Consumers
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.
Dr. David Acheson, is the founder and CEO of The Acheson Group and brings more than 30 years of medical and food safety research and experience to provide strategic advice as well as recall and crisis management support to food companies and ancillary technology companies on a global basis on all matters relating to food safety and food defense.
David graduated from the University of London Medical School and practiced internal medicine and infectious diseases in the United Kingdom until 1987 when he moved to the New England Medical Center and became an Associate Professor at Tufts University in Boston, studying the molecular pathogenesis of foodborne pathogens.
Prior to forming The Acheson Group, David served as the Chief Medical Officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service and then joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the Chief Medical Officer at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). After serving as the director of CFSAN’s Office of Food Defense, Communication, and Emergency Response, David was appointed as the Assistant and then Associate Commissioner for Foods, which provided him an agency-wide leadership role for all food and feed issues and the responsibility for the development of the 2007 Food Protection Plan, which served as the basis for many of the authorities granted to FDA by the Food Safety Modernization Act.
From 2009 to 2013, he was a partner at Leavitt Partners where he managed Leavitt Partners Global Food Safety Solutions.
David has published extensively and is internationally recognized both for his public health expertise in food safety and his research in infectious diseases. He is a sought-after speaker and regular guest on national news programs. He serves on a variety of boards and food safety advisory groups of several major food manufacturers.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to David [32:48] about:
The food industry's hesitation about speaking openly about food safety and the science behind it
Consumers' lack of trust and understanding when it comes to food science
How the media plays a role in shaping consumer attitudes about food safety
Scientists and their traditional lack of ability to effectively communicate with consumers
The state of food safety today vs. years/decades ago
Why it makes sense that today's food supply is safe despite an increasing number of recalls and outbreaks
Balancing science, public health, consumer demand, and marketing messages
The top misperceptions that consumers have about food
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.