Food Safety Talk 331: Hold Back My Hair

Added on March 4, 2026 by Ben Chapman.

Okay, this is Ben writing, I know I have been delinquent in editing and posting Food Safety Talk episodes, you, the faithful listener are being rewarded with weekly episodes that were recorded over the past couple of months. Starting today we'll be releasing new food safety talk episodes every Wednesday for the next few weeks until we're caught up. We're on the road a couple of times over the next month or so (at the SQF Unites meeting next week in St. Louis and at the NACS Food Safety Forum in Chicago in April). In this episode Don and Ben get into things talking about Canadian pronunciations and Don's favorite other podcasts. They chat through an outbreak linked to a pasta ingredient used in lots of different prepared foods/dishes. They get into some infant formula food safety and do a bit of Risky or Not follow up and finish up talking about a cool podcast episode on a group of mystery illnesses in Ontario.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Picture from Ben’s private collection. Photographer unknown.

Food Safety Talk 330: Some People Call Me Dr. Sweaty

Added on November 10, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

After warming up on hockey, baseball and other things, the guys dig into the CDC's scaling back of FoodNet as well as budget cuts ending some federally supported nutrition education. The conversation turns to digital foods safety as the guys chat through a couple of things that Ben's group has been working on and how data is great but doing some sort of analysis can be tough. The guys talk a bit about Dubai's FoodWatch system and how digitization of food safety info can be shared with regulators. The conversation shifts to the requisite Canadian content regarding the analysis of a Listeria outbreak linked to plant-based beverages and the Glob and Mail's reporting on algorithmic inspection issues. They also discuss a Consumer Reports piece on high lead levels in cinnamon and spice mixes, tying it to risk communication and cultural food practices. The finish the meat of the show by talking about a really weird food safety event: radioactive shrimp being removed from commerce linked to shipping container contamination discovered at numerous US ports.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety 329: Thing 1 And Thing 2

Added on October 16, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

In this episode Ben and Don are joined by not one, but two(!) mystery guests. In a surprise twist, Ben actually gets both correct (sorry for the spoiler). Kaitlyn Casuli and Dylan Bickers join the guys to talk about their food safety (and non-food safety) journeys, IAFP experiences and some other food safety podcasts that are out there. They talk about trust in public health agencies and the political situation that has occurred since the pandemic - and this goes into MAHA and raw milk. The group ends the conversation talking about pesticide residues in wild pigs.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Router for the Internet (image via Consumer Reports)

Food Safety Talk 328: Kick the Kids Off Of the Internet

Added on September 24, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

Ben and Don start the episode talking about IAFP, some upcoming live shows (one that has already happened) and baseball (which Ben is very much into right now). The guys talk about their summer vacations and Ben's 100 best things self challenges. Onto food safety topics the guys handle food TV shows and food safety and alcohol based hand sanitizer instead of handwashing. They go on to talk about FDA changes in standard identity of foods (and whether that means anything for food safety) as well as CDC funding loss (and whether that means anything for food safety as well). They do some follow up on pistachio creme and food safety culture. The show ends on a deep dive of a 1970s botulism outbreak linked to a canned food that helped inspire policy changes.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 327: You Got It In Two (Live from AFDO 2025)

Added on September 4, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben planned on being in the room together for this one but travel problems hit and Ben ended up Zooming in. The guys go through a bunch of outbreaks and recalls including listeria in some ready to eat chicken/pasta dishes and pistachio cream. The guys play a game of guess the risky foods (inspired by a clickbait article).

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Clint Eastwood at the 2012 Republican National Convention - Wikipedia

Chat GPT generated image of kimchi bread

Food Safety Talk 326: Kimchi Bread

Added on July 29, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

In this episode Don and Ben kick things off with some local flavor talking through Ben's hockey consumption experiences. before diving deep into the world of academic publishing and journals. The guys chat about Seaman A. Knapp, federal advisory shakeups, including the surprising termination of NACMCF and NACMPI. They revisit the 'Don't Wash Your Chicken' campaign and how this might fit into a summer camp for kids around food safety. They then touch on produce safety including lettuce wash efficacy and retail store food safety. They talk about disaster preparedness and recovery as it relates to flooding. The guys then talk about a Disney allergen menu issue, meat department red flags, a quick discussion on raw milk policy shifts at the federal and state level.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 325: I Have No Problem Eating Food Off Of The Floor

Added on July 8, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

Ben and Don are joined by a special surprise guest, Ben's friend Robin. After a quick game of 20 questions, Ben and Don talk about a variety of consumer-focused food safety questions including the five second rule, washing produce, cooling foods safely and online food safety tropes and misinformation.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 324: Richard Fingers Uncured

Added on June 2, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

Ben and Don do a normal sort of show, for them. They start the show talking through Ben's sports ball obsessions including the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Durham Bulls. The guys play one of Ben's favorite games: have Don guess the list. This episode's game is, "The Most Dangerous Foods In Your Refrigerator" with some "data." After that discussion the guys get into the excitement that is the world of federal food safety regulation and the black hole that is uncured meats (or at least meats cured with celery salt). They end the show talking about food safety trade wars, tariffs and the use of OmniFocus.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 323: If It's Wet, And It Isn't Yours, Don't Touch It (Live From CFP 2025)

Added on May 14, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

In this very special episode, Ben and Don take the stage to moderate a powerhouse panel on the evolution of retail food safety, featuring Jill Hollingsworth (Ecolab), Cory Hedman (Meijer), Laurie Farmer (FDA), and Carrie Pohjola (Wisconsin DATCP). The discussion opens with how the role of inspectors has changed, particularly around cultural competency, language barriers, and the shift toward risk-based inspections. Panelists share how both regulators and industry are using technology to improve inspections and modernize approaches without losing what still works in analog. They tackle big questions about industry-regulator partnerships and touch on a unified federal food safety agency. From there, the conversation turns personal: panelists reflect on crisis moments in their careers what they learned, and what they'd do differently now. In a rapid fire round of questions they also reveal the outbreak that shaped their careers, their first and last concerts, their favorite part of the Food Code and aspirational food safety tattoos.

Image of exactly what food scientists do from: https://scholarshipguidance.com/career-education/18240/what-skills-should-a-food-scientist-have

Food Safety Talk 322: I'm Also Not A Food Scientist

Added on May 2, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

In this episode, Don and Ben are joined by a mystery guest, Dr. Xenia Morin, Don's great colleague at Rutgers who works at the intersection of science, social science and society, specifically around food systems. Their discussion focused food disparity/hunger and waste. Xenia, Don and Ben dive into food donations, food sharing, waste and food safety. They talk through the Emerson Act (which is frequently referred to the Good Samaritan Act). They explore community fridges and food sharing apps. Their discussion goes to the intersection of legal issues and microbial safety when redistributing surplus food.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 321: My Favorite Marsden

Added on April 8, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

The guys start the episode talking about their respective treadmills and then get into some stuff they are watching. They do some follow-up about the great episode on botulism with Jane Talkington. The conversation shifts to talk about the federal government's transition and the impacts on the food safety system. Don and Ben talk about the historical challenges of outbreak investigations with lots of agencies involved as well as the public health investigation course Ben co-created with partners at NC State, FDA and NASDA. They end the show playing a food safety myth game based on some online articles.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Ben at the finish line of the Tobacco Road half marathon. It was a fair weather day.

Food Safety Talk 320: Fair Weather Runner

Added on March 14, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

In this episode, Ben and Don start with some warm up chatting about Decoding the Gurus, George Strombolopolis (which Don thinks is a made up name, but it is not) and James Acaster's obsession with a nemesis. The conversation then shifts to food safety regulation (after a quick detour through international hockey and Ben describing his fanboy moment with risk communication pioneer Vincent Covello) as the guys chat about the latest impacts of federal government cuts to FDA - personal, programatic and how it may impact the safety of the food supply. Before wrapping up, Ben and Don discuss recent food recalls (and an upcoming talk Don is giving) and their hot takes on why we might be hearing more about foodborne illnesses and recalls, despite the fact that tracking shows that events aren't necessarily higher.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Times Herald, Washington, District of Columbia · Sunday, November 12, 1922 (image via Jane Talkington)

Food Safety Talk 319: I'm Feeling Botchy Today

Added on February 26, 2025 by Ben Chapman.

Ben and Don are joined by a very special mystery (to Ben) guest, Jane Talkington, author of Recognizing Botulism: New Insights from Old Narratives. After an always embarrassing game of 20 questions, they dive right into Jane's book, how she came to be interested in historical bot cases as well as the stories around research into antitoxin and the food safety world's understanding of the pathogen. Jane shares her personal connection to a bot victim as well as many accounts of the long term impacts of the toxin on people. Don figured Ben would be way into these tales and anecdotes and he was right.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

An AI generated whimsical illustration of lice playing guitars. The scene is lively and fun, perfect for a creative touch.

Food Safety Talk 318: Head Grime And The Lice

Added on December 22, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

After a quick discussion of the ongoing saga (that has now come to a conclusion) of Ben's bricked AirPods and baths, Ben and Don jump into food safety stuff. They start with the question of the moment, "Why are we hearing so much about outbreaks and recalls right now?". The guys dive into tracking foodborne outbreak investigations, walk through CDC's BEAM Dashboard and talk through food recall data and a recent Washington Post article, exploring whether this trend reflects improved food safety or simply shifts in reporting. The conversation then turns to the fallout (regulatory and communication challenges) related to a couple of enoki mushroom Listeria outbreaks. Don talks about California's date label law which might provide some impacts on food waste, but the guys talk about the challenges. The show ends on new EU research that examines the microbiological safety of plant-based meat alternatives and a flow chart of diarrhea.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Generative AI image of number of golf carts parked outside of a brand new Trader Joe's grocery store in North Carolina

Food Safety Talk 317: Golf Cart Grocery Store

Added on November 25, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

In this episode Don and Ben jump right in and do a deep dive on the media coverage of food safety-related outbreaks and recalls. The guys talk about participating in some recent national news interviews and providing background on whether there are more outbreaks right now (there aren't) and if not, why is everyone talking about food safety (the guys have some guesses). The conversation goes to being a public figure as an academic and how to build those skills. Don and Ben also talk about food science/food safety students exploring the career of regulation. The show ends on a discussion of a raw milk linked recall due to contamination with Avian Influenza virus.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 316: Vibing And Thriving

Added on November 25, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the show with some guest invite requests that they have received recently, which they poke fun at (especially when the request is for the show they don't do with guests). The guys do some followup from Risky or Not really focusing on a recent E. coli outbreak linked McDonald's Quarter Pounders. Fresh sliced/slivered onion contamination gets a deep dive with the discussion going to storage and growth of pathogens. They also explore some unique food safety news stories, including a mass Staph outbreak at a seafood distributor (not related to seafood produced there), Ontario's mysterious butter bandits, and a pizzeria that accidentally sold THC-laced pizza.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 315: We're On Nicki Time Today

Added on November 20, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

The guys start the episode talking about Canadian words and terms that aren't used in the US and get into service opportunities in food science and food safety. and then jump right into a deep dive of apple cider safety talk. The guys talk recent concerts that Ben has attended (it was a big week) and then turn their conversation to hurricanes Milton and Helene and the food safety and community impacts in North Carolina and elsewhere. They end the show talking about a Gallup poll related to US public's confidence in food safety and the regulatory system.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

A generative AI image of a science club speakeasy, with a secret door where someone has to say a password

Food Safety Talk 314: They Don't Let Just Anybody In

Added on November 4, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

Ben and Don kick things off with a quick discussion about Ben's trip to USDA for a National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) meeting the latest updates from the. They riff on how these guidelines set the gold standard for food safety across federal agencies as well as how the food industry looks at emerging food safety issues. From there, they share a virtual tour of the USDA’s iconic South and Jamie L. Whitten buildings—a quick stroll down memory lane, including a few constructive critiques on bureaucratic décor. Switching gears, they dive into the recent Emmy win for Poisoned, the documentary on foodborne illness where FST friend Bill Marler is a main character (and Ben make's a cameo). The discussion shifts to disaster preparation and recovery, specifically related to Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, touching on how floods and power outages affect food safety. Rounding out the episode is an exploration of the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs, flour and pathogenic E. coli and Listeria in Boar's Head liverwurst.

Food Safety Talk 313: We've All Read Scallan

Added on September 13, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben begin the show talking about walking and tracking fitness in the iPhone universe. They move on to some Apple TV+ shows and other media and Ben talks about his trip to the National Academy of Sciences. For most of the episode, the guys do a deep dive on the Listeria monocytogenes outbreak linked to Boar's Head deli meats (specifically liverwurst). They talk inspection non-compliances (a year's worth of them) and common trends seen in a document that was acquired through a Freedom Of Information Act request. The guys end the show on a game that Don loved, "what 6 kitchen items should you replace immediately" (spoiler alert Don did well).

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Photograph by Dan Kullman, from https://www.kouroshdini.com/about-kourosh/

Food Safety Talk 312: 37 Things Are Not Going To Happen On Thursday

Added on September 10, 2024 by Ben Chapman.

In this bonus episode, Don and Ben are joined by productivity and task management expert Kourosh Dini, who's well known for his deep dives into mindfulness and systems thinking. The guys riff on the pros and cons of apps like OmniFocus, TaskPaper, and Slack. There's pretty much no food safety in this episode, which is ironic based on the name of the show. They spend some time talking about how life pulls us in so many directions which competes with making progress on big and small projects. Kourosh shares his take on the anchor technique for grounding decision-making. Don and Ben get into the weeds on their own productivity hacks, including a few rabbit holes about getting things done in the chaotic world of food safety and academia. The guys discuss practical approaches to managing tasks effectively, avoiding burnout, and how reflecting and planning for productivity plays a role in getting better at actual productivity.

Show notes so you can follow along at home: