Navigating Food Safety Challenges: Bruce Ferree’s 40-Year Career in Food Science

Bruce Ferree, a food safety consultant, unpacks the world of food safety and quality management. Bruce's career spans over four decades, encompassing meats, poultry, dairy, and aseptic processing roles. He’s a distinguished member of the Institute of Food Technologists and a former US Marine and cancer survivor. Bruce shares valuable insights from his vast experience in the food industry, the evolution of food safety culture, and the significance of consistency, continuous improvement, and prevention.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• The key changes in the culture of food safety and quality over Bruce’s career
• The importance of CCP (Consistency, Continuous Improvement, and Prevention)
• Military discipline transferred to food science
• How surviving cancer influenced Bruce’s perspective on life and work
• Some key strategies that professional organizations like IFT can adopt to effectively convey scientific information to consumers

Jump to:

(05:03) Workers who take ownership of quality and safety.

(07:14) Integration of quality teams for efficient collaboration.

(12:39) Challenges in food safety mirror cancer survival.

(17:09) Diverse food scientists unite in global organization.

(19:13) Pesticides, heavy metals and public awareness.

(25:00) Featured artist and song

(25:57) This episode’s Mantra

Featured Artist and Song:

QUEMA by NASTY CAT

Links mentioned in this episode:

Institute of Food Technologists

Bang the Drum All Day by Todd Rundgren, music was chosen by Bruce Ferree.

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AQUALAB

Zachary Cartwright, PhD

Digitizing Food Safety: Innovations in Middle East and North Africa with Fidele El Achkar

Fidele El Achkar is the visionary founder of FoodSight, an initiative aimed at revolutionizing the food industry in the Middle East and North Africa. By digitizing food safety and industry activities, Fidele seeks to modernize traditional practices, ensuring they align with global trends. FoodSight fosters collaboration among freelancers, international experts, and service providers, creating an ecosystem where stakeholders work together using a customized approach.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Addressing food safety issues in Lebanon and the MENA region
• How FoodSight is uniting industry stakeholders and creating job opportunities
• The digitization of food industry activities and how it’s revolutionizing food safety and efficiency
• Assisting producers with export and compliance issues
• How other regions around the world can learn from the success of FoodSight

Jump to:

(05:19) How FoodSight aims to unite industry stakeholders and create job opportunities.

(07:01) Assisting producers with export and compliance issues.

(11:58) Experts fill out detailed profiles and questionnaires.

(16:17) Repositioning FoodSights as a social enterprise and expanding globally.

(19:44) This episode’s song.

(21:40) This episode’s mantra.

Featured Artist and Song:

FIGHT 4 ME by NASTY CAT

Links mentioned in this episode:

FoodSight

Fidele El Ackhar on LinkedIn

Woman by Andreya Triana,a song recommendation by Fidele El Achkar

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AQUALAB

Zachary Cartwright, PhD

Angela Anandappa, Ph. D. is the founding director of the Alliance for Advanced Sanitation. Anandappa is an experienced food safety industry professional having worked in the supply chain, product development, and sanitation areas of the food manufacturing industry. In this episode we unpack the alarming prevalence of microplastics, explore their pathways into our food supply, and discuss the potential solutions and innovations in sustainable packaging.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• The average intake of microplastics by an American
• Understanding the complexities of recycling and how to overcome them
• Advanced sanitation's role in integrating sustainability with food safety
• Strategies for significantly reducing microplastics' impact
• A call for a more unified and capable recycling system within the US

Jump to:

(04:29) How consumers are influenced by multiple sustainability standards and options.

(09:02) The Animal Digestible Food Packaging Initiative's mission for sustainability.

(11:33) Why the food industry must take action to reduce microplastics.

(14:51) How to not be overwhelmed by fighting climate change.

(17:11) Featured artist and song.

(19:17) This episode’s Mantra.

Featured Artist and Song:

2L8 by NASTY CAT

Links mentioned in this episode:

Alliance for Advanced Sanitation

Animal Digestible Food Packaging Initiative

Jason Mraz, music was chosen by Angela Anandappa

Connect with the show

AQUALAB

Zachary Cartwright, PhD