Shaping Food Safety Policy with Jennifer McEntire, Ph.D., Founder of Food Safety Strategy | Ep. 93
Release Date: 07/25/2024
Mastering Stage-Gate and Beyond with Lara Tiro and Christine Farkas, Food Industry Consultants and Podcast Hosts (#116)
That's a Food Job!
Lara Tiro is the founder of Rebel CPG, where she helps food entrepreneurs take products from kitchen concepts to retail shelves. She brings deep experience in product development and project management, guiding clients through every stage of innovation to ensure ideas become market-ready products. Christine Farkas is the founder of IHeartFood and co-host of the podcast Munching on Molecules. With a background in culinary science and strategic consulting, she helps food innovators solve complex challenges and create products that resonate with consumers. In this episode, we talk about how food...
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Scaling Chef Craft into Food Products with Kaylah Farina, Product Development Manager at Sigma US (#115)
That's a Food Job!
Kaylah Farina is the Product Development Manager at Sigma US, where she leads innovation projects for Bar-S Foods Co. She develops a wide range of meat products for retail and foodservice, including high-protein snacks and bold new concepts like a chili cheese dog burrito, which she describes as a mess-free chili dog on the go. Before moving into product development, Kaylah trained and worked as a chef. That experience continues to shape how she approaches recipe formulation and testing. She is also Chair of the Cactus Section of the Institute of Food Technologists, where she supports...
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Bridging Academia and Industry with Nataly Lopez Baron, Manager of the Guelph Food Innovation Centre (GFIC) (#114)
That's a Food Job!
Nataly Lopez Baron is the Manager of the Guelph Food Innovation Centre (GFIC), an applied research centre that partners with food businesses to transform challenges into practical solutions through research, product development, and pilot plant testing. Originally from Colombia, Nataly earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees before moving to Canada to complete a PhD in Food Science and Technology at the University of Alberta. She has since worked in food research and product development across the dairy, cereals, and supplement industries, bringing that expertise and international...
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Delving into the Craft of Beer Making with Santiago Ampudia Vasquez, Brewer at Blackburn Brewhouse and Assistant Professor at Niagara College (#113)
That's a Food Job!
Santiago Ampudia Vasquez is a brewer at Blackburn Brewhouse and Assistant Professor at Niagara College. Blackburn Brewhouse, based in Niagara Falls, produces a wide range of craft beers—from lagers and pale ales to specialty brews, seltzers, and ciders. Santiago holds a Master of Science and previously taught at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. After immigrating to Canada, he changed paths by enrolling in Niagara College’s Brewmaster program. Since then, he has helped the college secure first place at the 2023 U.S. Open College Beer Championship and earned a Silver medal for...
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Exploring Opportunities in Food Science with Prairva (Summer) Plepalakon, UC Davis Food Science and Technology Graduate (#112)
That's a Food Job!
Prairva Plepalakon, also known as “Summer,” is a recent Food Science and Technology graduate from the University of California, Davis, one of the most respected food science programs in the world. UC Davis has a big reputation in food science, pairing strong academic programs with deep industry and research networks. In this episode of That’s a Food Job!, Summer shares what it’s like to study food science at UC Davis and reflects on the co-op positions she’s taken on (including one with a company making protein from air). We talk about her advice for students who want to...
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Supporting People and Culture in Ag with Leslie Nienkark, HR Business Partner at KWS Group (#111)
That's a Food Job!
Leslie Nienkark is an HR Business Partner at KWS Group, one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. KWS specializes in breeding and selling seed for crops like corn, sugar beet, cereals, rapeseed, sunflowers, and vegetables. Although Leslie hasn’t spent her entire career in agriculture, her HR experience spans a variety of industries including media, software, architecture, and retail. This gives her a broad and insightful perspective on workplace culture. In this episode of That’s a Food Job!, Leslie shares what it’s like to work in human resources within the agricultural...
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Inside Food Product Development with Louisa Bachman, Food Scientist at KIND Snacks (#110)
That's a Food Job!
Louisa Bachman is a Food Scientist at KIND Snacks. KIND offers a range of products, including nut and fruit bars, breakfast bars, granola clusters, and refrigerated nut butter bars. Before joining KIND however, Louisa earned her Food Science degree at UMass Amherst, where she both led their school’s Food Science Club and Alpine Skiing club. In this episode of That’s a Food Job!, Louisa shares what it’s really like to work in product development, walking us through how a concept turns into a product on the shelf. She breaks down the role of flavor iteration, sensory testing,...
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Inside Food Safety Leadership with Marin Pavlic, Director of QA Programs & Compliance at Sofina Food (#109)
That's a Food Job!
Marin Pavlic is the Senior Director of QA Programs & Compliance at Sofina Foods and the current President of the Ontario Food Protection Association (OFPA). With over 15 years of experience in food manufacturing, Marin brings a deep understanding of food safety, team leadership, and regulatory compliance to his work—along with a strong belief in the power of networking and continuous improvement. In this episode of That’s a Food Job!, Marin shares how he built his career by learning to trust the expertise of his team, learning adjacent skills and networking within the industry. He...
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Building AI for Food Scientists with Thomas Hayes, Co-Founder at Agilitas (#108)
That's a Food Job!
Thomas Hayes is the co-founder of Agilitas, a company building AI-powered tools to help food scientists formulate faster, smarter, and with more confidence. By transforming messy spreadsheets into an intelligent platform, Agilitas is tackling the “cold start” problem in food R&D and making it easier for teams to benchmark products, create base formulas, and retain critical institutional knowledge. In this episode of That’s a Food Job!, Tommy shares his unconventional path from chemical engineering to food tech founder. He talks about building a customer-first platform, the power of...
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The future of CPG packaging with Tyler de Sousa, Co-Founder at Circulr (#107)
That's a Food Job!
Tyler De Sousa is the co-founder of Circulr, a company helping Consumer Packaged Goods brands close the loop on their glass packaging through reuse. By managing the logistics of sourcing, collecting, and redistributing reusable containers, Circulr is making it easier for businesses and consumers to reduce waste and support a circular economy. In this episode of That's a Food Job!, Tyler shares how a small pilot project turned into a growing social enterprise. He talks about the challenges of changing consumer behavior, the importance of industry collaboration, and how technology is helping...
info_outlineJennifer McEntire, Ph.D., founder of Food Safety Strategy and former Chief Food Safety & Regulatory Officer at the International Fresh Produce Association. She is a food microbiologist by background and has worked in the Washington, DC, area for over 20 years, bringing the scientific perspective to food safety leadership positions within the grocery manufacturers association. She held previous food safety leadership positions with the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Institute of Food Technologists, where she led the FDA FSMA traceability pilots.
🔍 Episode Highlights:
- Jennifer's food safety career journey
- Skills that are important for food safety professionals
- Safety concerns regarding produce
- Technology's role in the future of food safety
Jennifers's / Website/ LinkedIn
TIMESTAMPS
(0:00) Introduction
(1:30) Jennifer introduces herself
(5:20) Jobs in food safety policy
(10:44) Science and government policy
(14:10) How to practice communicating science
(16:25) Understanding people’s points of view
(20:13) Food produce food safety
(24:31) Food safety of sprouts
(28:15) Technology’s role on food safety for the future
(33:00) How to learn about data science
(37:22) Soft skills needed by food safety professionals
(44:34) Outro
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