James (Jim) Jones joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2023 as the agency's first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods. In this position, he leads the charge in setting and advancing priorities for a proposed, unified Human Foods Program, which includes food safety, chemical safety, and nutrition activities. He currently oversees the leadership of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and the Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR), until the proposed Human Foods Program reorganization is implemented. Jones came to FDA with intimate knowledge of t ..read more

Robert (Bob) Manning, M.B.A., M.S., M.E.M., has worked in the food and beverage industry for over 25 years in various facility and senior corporate positions. He is currently CEO of Liquid, and formerly worked as Vice President of Technical Operations at Niagara Bottling. He has spent most of his time in Operations and Quality roles for large companies such as HP Hood LLC, Campbell's Soup, and Niagara Bottling, as well as consulting for major domestic and international firms. Bob is also the author of In the Midst of a Recall: Recall Management and Prevention Strategies in Real World Scenarios ..read more

Brittany Sambol is the Vice President of Operations at Wildtype Foods, where she is responsible for leading the scale-up of the company’s operations function, including product commercialization and manufacturing facility expansion. Prior to joining Wildtype, Brittany spent six years at Clif Bar & Company, leading in various areas including supply chain and contract manufacturing management, product innovation and scale-up, and sustainable packaging development. Earlier in her career, Brittany worked as a chemical engineer and then spent over 12 years directly leading manufacturing operati ..read more

Jason Richardson, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Global Quality and Food Safety of The Coca-Cola Company, a position he has held since January 2021. In this role, Jason leads a team of quality and food safety professionals who are accountable for delivering global strategic and operational leadership for performance and progress of quality and food safety programs across the Coca-Cola system.   Jason joined The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 2009, holding a variety of quality, food safety, and technical leadership positions within Coca-Cola North America over the course of his caree ..read more

Brian Ronholm, M.A., is the Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports, where he leads advocacy efforts to advance a safe and healthy food system. He was in public service prior to joining Consumer Reports, having served as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and before that, as a congressional staff person for Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.  In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Brian [28:55] about: How his prior experience in regulatory policy informs his current consumer advocacy work The FDA Foods Coalitio ..read more

Natalie Dyenson, M.P.H. is the Chief Food Safety and Regulatory Officer for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA). She has nearly three decades of experience in food safety that encompasses the entire produce supply chain, from farm to fork. In her role at IFPA, Natalie and her team actively work to guide industry on food safety issues and connect with regulators and policymakers to advocate for a science-focused and risk-based approach to food safety worldwide. Having previously served as Vice President of Food Safety and Quality for Dole Food Company, Natalie is an international ..read more

Brian Sylvester, J.D., is a Partner in Perkins Coie LLP's Washington D.C. office and a former Attorney-Advisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs Division's Office of the General Counsel. At Perkins Coie, Brian focuses his practice on regulatory matters before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the USDA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and analogous state regulatory bodies. He is a leading authority on food technology regulation and serves as a trusted advisor to global brands, startups, life science compani ..read more

Sara Mortimore, M.Sc., FRSPH, MIFST, is the Vice President and Global Subject Matter Expert for Food Safety at Walmart Inc. In her role, Sara is responsible for the global development and oversight of all food safety programs, compliance, and initiatives for the company's 10,500 stores, owned manufacturing facilities, and distribution and fulfilment centers. This includes the supplier and supply chain food safety program. Prior to joining Walmart in May 2019, Sara held the position of Vice President of Product Safety, Quality, and Regulatory Affairs with enterprise-wide responsibility at Land ..read more

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we review the top food safety stories of 2023 and their implications. Specifically, we discuss: Developments in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) restructuring of its Human Foods Program and Office of Regulatory Affairs Ongoing concerns around infant formula safety and supply, including new regulations and guidelines, and how the crisis served as the catalyst for the reorganization of FDA's Human Foods Program New allergen guidances delivered by authorities worldwide and growing global concern over industry compliance with food allergen re ..read more

Sherry Brice, M.B.A. is Chief Supply Chain Officer at W.K. Kellogg Co. She was formerly Vice President of Global Quality and Food Safety at the Kellogg Company, overseeing end-to-end food safety and quality for Kellogg's internal and external network. Sherry has over 20 years of experience in the industry and joined Kellogg in 2012 as part of the Pringles acquisition from Procter & Gamble. She has served in numerous supply chain roles in the company, ranging from operations to quality. Sherry is on the SSAFE board of directors and is affiliated with a number of other industry associations ..read more