Blake Harris, CSCP, is a specialist in standards and process enhancement, digital solution development, and implementation, with more than a decade of experience in supply chain-related functions within the private sector and at non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He places high value on tackling complex issues to create efficient and uncomplicated solutions. As the Technical Director at the Institute of Food Technologists' Global Food Traceability Center (IFT’s GFTC), his focus centers on enhancing data digitization in food systems, which involves collaborative efforts with a diverse range ..read more

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. in Chemistry and an M.B.A. 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 Indep ..read more

Lise Korsten, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) in the Center of Excellence in Food Security at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She is also responsible for the food safety and regulatory control programs within the DSI-National Research Foundation (NRF) Center of Excellence in Food Security and actively interacts with other researchers in various institutes. She holds the position of Chair in the Global Task Force of Food Security for the International Society for Plant Pathology. Dr. Korsten has also addressed the South African Parliament o ..read more

Barbara Masters, D.V.M., is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food, and Agriculture at Tyson Foods Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support to the enterprise and gives oversight to the Office of Animal Welfare. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Partnership for Food Safety Education, the Center for Foodborne Illness, and the Steering Committee of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Previously, Dr. Masters spent nine years as a Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda, where she worked closely with the meat and poultry industry to ensure regulatory c ..read more

Patrick Guzzle, M.P.H., M.A. is the Vice President of Food Science for the National Restaurant Association. He has been involved in retail food safety for over 20 years, since his wife contracted Escherichia coli O157:H7. Patrick’s career in food safety began as an Environmental Health Specialist in the Southeastern Idaho Public Health District. He later became the Environmental Health Supervisor and was involved in all aspects of environmental health. In 2004, Patrick was hired as the Idaho Food Protection Program Manager with the State Division of Public Health. During that time, he served a ..read more

Kris de Smet, D.V.M., is the Head of the Food Hygiene Team under the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety at the European Commission. Dr. de Smet graduated as a Veterinary Doctor in 1987, and from 1988–1992, he was a Researcher at the University of Ghent, Belgium in the faculty of Veterinary Science. From 1992–2001, he was employed in the private sector, being mainly involved in veterinary services and quality control of poultry integration. Since 2001, Dr. de Smet has worked as an official at the European Commission under the Health and Food Safety Directorate-General, where he has ..read more

Andre Pierce joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2022 as the Retail Food Protection Division Director in the Office of State Cooperative Programs (OSCP). He came to FDA with 34 years of experience at a local health department, where he built relationships, shared knowledge, and promoted quality improvement through the Voluntary Retail Program Standards. Andre earned his B.Sc. degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his M.P.A. from North Carolina State University. David Morales is the Managing Supervisor for the Environmental Health D ..read more

Steven A. Lyon, Ph.D., is the Director of Food Safety–Field Operations at Chick-Fil-A Inc. He has been with Chick-fil-A since 2009, leading various food safety and animal welfare initiatives. His current role is centered on control of foodborne and respiratory diseases within the enterprise. He has held several roles encompassing supply chain food safety; product safety; restaurant procedure; kitchen design reviews, solutions, and innovations; animal welfare; and regulatory compliance. Prior to Chick-fil-A, he was with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for seven years, where he worked ..read more

Tracy Fink is the Director of Scientific Programs and Science and Policy Initiatives at IFT. She has more than 25 years of experience in leading food safety and logistics initiatives for the food industry, including with Schwan Food Co. and NSF International. In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Tracy [29:49] about: Tracy’s work overseeing IFT’s food safety programs, which focus on several strategic topics of interest Programming and discussions that will take place at the IFT FIRST conference in July, the theme of which will be “Innovation in a time of crisis: Can we future ..read more

Angela Fernandez is the Vice President of Community Engagement at GS1 U.S., where she is responsible for driving broader adoption of GS1 Standards to help industry achieve their goals for improved product traceability, product information transparency, and data quality. Since joining GS1 U.S. more than 15 years ago, Angela has collaborated with a diverse range of industry stakeholders to identify how the use of GS1 Standards can improve supply chain business processes and e-commerce operations, as well as address regulatory requirements to deliver safe products to patients and consumers. Angel ..read more