Food Safety Talk

Don and Ben were invited to speak at a breakfast meeting of the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Science (IAFNS) as part of IAFP 2023. The audio isn't fantastic, but here's the episode they recorded. They gave a bit of a background on podcasting and how they got into it, talked a bit about how they approach risky or not an dthen got into an article (from Apple News!) on things to stop doing when grocery shopping (or not stop doing). The guys do a couple of risky or nots and answer questions from the audience.

The guys are back at it again and start with personal hygiene habits and mesothelioma. They talk about 4th of July festivities and then jump into food safety with a discussion of the Poisoned documentary trailer. The discussion goes to street foods and a 17-point tip list that might have been created by Chat GPT. They then talk about Canadian best-before dates, food waste and food insecurity. The conversation goes to school and cafeteria food including gardens, farm to school programs and a weird trial and fallout related to NYC school foods.

Don has returned from his sojourn in Japan and the guys jump right into things talking about some of the stuff Ben is watching with his kids. The guys talk about a couple of folks who meant a lot to them, Dave Macinga and Bill Schaffner, and then jump into some food safety stuff. They start with cleaning viruses off of strawberries (uh, sort of). After a detour to AI, they jump into a discussion of a popular BBQ bloggers approaches to food safety temperatures (and the shade he throws at one of the federal food safety agencies). They then dismantle a list of foods that food safety professionals don't eat before talking about a bot-related recall of pizza oils. They end the show with some food safety news and feedback on sink pasta.

This episode was recorded live at the Association of Food And Drug Officials (AFDO) annual educational conference, held in June 2023 in Norfolk, VA. Don galavanting across the world in Japan so Ben is joined by fantastic pitch-hitting guests Jessica Badour, Workforce & Communications Coordinator Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO)and Adam Inman from Kansas Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Lodging Program. They talk about how each of the guests got into what they do and what they are doing now. They talk about the riskiest things they do at home. Ben and Adam play a couple of rounds of risky or not, take questions from the audience and then Ben's kids join the podcast to finish the episode.

The guys jump right into the food safety on this one by talking about a new paper investigating the causative agent linked to Daily Harvest's/tara flour outbreak and FDA's Center for Natural Products Research. The guys then go into some keto talk, and stuff they are watching/reading. The conversation goes to a cookie dough-linked Salmonella outbreak and Ben's theory on how eating "baked" cookies might have actually led to an illness. They go on to talk about a warning letter for a sprouts producer and a question Ben received about a rusty piece of equipment. The episode ends on a discussion of toxic mushrooms (and false mushrooms) leading to illnesses. Oddly, the show title is liked to the episode number, but not on purpose.

The show starts with the guys talking about Ben's Internet situation, Don introduces a new show concept: Department Head Chair Talk and then teases new Food Safety Talk t-shirts. The conversation goes to then goes to couple of talks that they gave Ben at the American Association for Agricultural Education and Don to students at the Rutgers Law Cannabis Certificate program. The guys then talk about the difference between cleaning and sanitizing as explained really simply (with special props to the Conference for Food Protection Disinfection Committee). The discussion goes to a fantastic article about room temperature butter and then go on to AI and Chat-GPT. The show ends on discussion on a Salmonella outbreak linked to sushi in Colorado.

The show starts with a discussion of Ben's front yard chickens (including some new additions) and managing the animals both Don and Ben's houses. They go on to talk about agritourism and food safety risks. The guys then talk about their Conference for Food Protection 2023 experiences. The guys revisited Chat GPT and AI as tools. They talk aflatoxin, cookie dough and pathogens in raw flour. The show ends with a chat about a cantaloupe-linked Salmonella outbreak (and a great FDA report).

The episode starts with the guys talking about hockey documentaries (okay, it was just Ben) and cannabis food safety laws. Then the conversation goes to the Conference for Food Protection where the guys talk about the recent educational program webinars and highlight some interesting issues coming up at the biennial meeting. Highlight, not deliberate. The conversation goes to a Daily Mail article on spring cleaning refrigerators and all the millions of bacteria that are lurking there. The discussion goes to changes at FDA and testimony at a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee related to infant formula. The show ends on a deep dive on a paper linking UTIs to meat where the guys explore what they think it means and doesn't mean.

The show starts with a discussion of the types of drinks the guys have been enjoying recently, and then the conversation switches to their recent travel itineraries to Brazil and Michigan. Don and Ben talk about airplane travel viewing and then talk goes to FDA restructuring and Bill Marler's Get the F out of the FDA campaign. They go on to talk about the politics and science of COVID origins. As the show, unbeknownst to the hosts, winds down they talk about food truck food safety and then show ends abruptly as one Ben's kids gets sick.

Ben and Don start the show talking about some British panel shows but quickly get into the world of food safety through a Toronto health inspector story from the 1980s. Ben goes on to tell Don about his interactions with ChatGPT integrating food safety Don's favorite Caddyshack references. The guys talk quite a bit about the utility (and entertainment potential of AI). They then talk about two or three (maybe?) 30 year food safety anniversaries, and a nice profile of friend of the show Bill Marler. Don and Ben then deconstruct foods that Bill doesn't eat. They end the show talking about a question from their friend and retired UC Davis faculty member Christine Bruhn and her questions on best before/expiration and sell by dates.

Don and Ben start the conversation with their reflections on Frank Yiannas' resignation and FDA's restructuring. They also talk about the passing of their IAFP friend Paul Hall. Don gives Ben an early birthday present and then they really get into the world of FDA warning letters and criminal charges for food safety violations. The conversation goes to pit bbq, listeria in train food and kitchen design for food safety. The episode ends on a discussion of the peer review process (not the system we would have created but the system we have).

Don and Ben open the episode talking about internet things, shadow networks and how many things are on the pipe. The get into food safety by talking by their collaborative work that has made contaminated spice jars all the rage. They go on to discuss stuff that the non-food safety media might find funny about food safety and changes in the FDA Model Food Code. Their discussion goes to life hacks (in Richard Fingers) like color coding dish towels. The show ends on dog bowls and Chat GPT.

The show starts with a discussion about a wide variety of seemingly unrelated music including Men at Work, Burt Bacharach, Sting and school musicals before shifting to a quick chat about fun Netflix movies. The guys move into actual food safety talk by the way of microbes on used books and unsafe pickling procedures. The conversation goes to cottage foods and having pets in home food processing kitchens. Don and Ben talk about food safety fights between franchisers and franchisees, expiration dates and the risks of grapefruits and medication. The show ends on a review of FDA's structure and the science of science.

The show starts with a discussion of Ben's new podcasting space that is equipped with a bed and an actual working executive office. The guys get to actual food safety topics somewhat quicker than normal, chatting about Thanksgiving preparation, thawing a very large turkey (at room temperature, in an insulated cooler). Turkey thawing leads to a discussion on enzyme kinetics and turkey pardoning. The conversation goes to National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day (which neither knew was a thing) and all of the advice that goes along with that holiday. The guys talk about pre-print papers, and published papers and how they are talked about differently in media (or should be, or shouldn't be). In a non-food safety detour, they talk about higher education and the impact of sports gambling on NCAA sports. The show ends on some follow-up and a quick chat about ingredient-driven recalls (that may not be risk-based).

The guys are joined by special mystery guest Kaitlyn Casulli and assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia. The group talks about what being a new faculty member is like and how each started their careers. Don, Ben and Kaitlyn do a deep dive on what it's like to be an outsider in a discipline and creating a niche. The discussion goes to difficult extension and outreach topics including prepping for the apocalypse (with food safety in mind). The conversation goes to better process control schools, North Carolina BBQ and food sharing with the unhoused. The conversation ends on an update on Poisoned (the book and documentary) and home-delivered meal kits and getting rid of WWI rations.