Stop Foodborne Illness is here to amplify voices that have experienced great trauma from something as base as eating. We are working for those that understand that public health and food safety are synonymous; and, for the courageous individuals that share their personal tragedy to prevent others from having the same experience.
You are not alone — whether you are in crisis, post-crisis or managing the life-long complications that can accompany surviving contaminated food. We, at Stop Foodborne Illness, are humbly dedicated to you.
We will continue working to stop foodborne illness.
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Compassion
STOP leads with compassion and insight to engage and support individuals and families affected by foodborne illness.
Collaboration
STOP works in partnership with other organizations to achieve its mission.
Environmental Responsibility
integrity
equity
learning
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As the voice of people affected by foodborne illness, we collaborate with partners in academia, the food industry, and government to prevent foodborne illness. We advocate for effective food safety policy and facilitate culture change to increase food safety.
Stop Foodborne Illness is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent the law allows.
As Chief Executive Officer, Mitzi Baum is focused on expanding the impact of Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) by concentrating on STOP’s three strategic areas: families and individuals impacted by foodborne disease; company culture and practice; and food safety policy. By instituting a collaborative, consumer-centric operating model, STOP engages stakeholders across the food system to develop and advance solutions to food safety.
Prior to her tenure at STOP, Mitzi cultivated a 23-year career at Feeding America rising to the senior level position of managing director of food safety. Ms. Baum earned a Master of Science in Food Safety and a certificate in Food Law from Michigan State University. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University and has obtained certificates in Non-Profit Management from the University of Chicago, Quality Management from DePaul University, and Food Safety Management from Cornell University.
Mitzi is the 2021 Joseph Leiter Lecturer of the Medical Library Association and National Library of Medicine, an adjunct faculty for Michigan State University’s Online Food Safety Program, a certified seafood HACCP instructor, a certified PCQI, serves as the consumer representative on Council I for the Conference for Food Protection, and is a member of the National Restaurant Association’s Food Safety Advisory Council.
Maria Krysciak began working with Stop Foodborne Illness as a part-time book keeper in April 2010, which became a full-time position of Operations Manager in November. Within a year, her persistent diligence, strong work ethic and attention to detail in responsibilities ranging from Human Resources, Board Relations and Office Administration to Finance and Accounting were the catalyst for a promotion to Director of Operations.
Prior to joining our organization, Maria worked at the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB), a nonprofit organization. She has over twenty years of experience in accounting, administrative and member services, and has worked as a Grant Coordinator liaison between CCTB and the State of Illinois government grant administration.
Maria is a graduate of Northwestern Business College in Chicago.
Out of the office, Maria likes to garden, go for walks and spend time with her family. She is a wife, and a mother of two adult sons.
With the same care and attention Maria gives to animals and her flower garden, she contributes to the growth and ongoing success of Stop Foodborne Illness.
Michelle Hurley was a creative and technology-obsessed child growing up in Miami, Florida. Born into a second-generation Cuban family, Michelle had some intense culture shock when her family moved to North Carolina during her teen years. After high school, Michelle graduated with degrees in History and Dance from the UNC Greensboro.
Michelle’s next chapter brought her to Chicago as a full-time nanny. Not one to sit still for very long, Michelle was soon pursuing a degree through the Elementary Education Master’s Program at Columbia College, Chicago. Her thesis focused on ways to intertwine standard school curriculum with technology. After obtaining her degree, Michelle moved to California and became the founding Computer Science Teacher for K-8 students at her school in Vallejo. Creating, implementing and training others to use technology and project-based learning to make general educational content more engaging for 21st century students. In 2018, Michelle had the good fortune to attend the Design Thinking Institute at The Nueva School where she was given the tools to build on her vision to grow dreams and make a difference anywhere she lands.
Michelle returned to Illinois in July of 2022. Bringing her diverse rolodex of skills, Michelle is expanding STOP’s social media footprint and helping increase the organization’s commitment to strengthen and mature food safety cultures, and sharpen its policy work.
During her free time, Michelle can be found spending time with her husband, doting on her nephew, sewing her own wardrobe, gardening and cooking good food, and hanging out with friends and listening to records.
Stanley E Rutledge is the Director of Constituent Services and Communications.
Stanley was a volunteer with Stop Foodborne Illness before joining the staff in 2011. From the beginning, he’s been tasked with what he calls the best job at STOP — engaging our treasure trove of constituents!
The individuals and families that are survivors or loved ones of those who have fallen victim to the life-altering experiences of foodborne illness are absolutely the heart of Stop Foodborne Illness. Without them we could never do what we do.
From the great plains of Iowa and Nebraska to the great city of London (UK) to Illinois by way of California, Stanley’s education and work experience has given him opportunities to use his gifts of ideation and adaptability in such diverse fields as design, education, book procurement, farming, office administration, travel, and food service. And now, in the nonprofit sector, he gets to put all that good experience to use.
Using social media, phone and email contacts, snail mail, and word of mouth, Stanley seeks out individuals and families impacted by foodborne illness to offer such services as a place to be seen and a platform to share their foodborne illness story with the people who really need to hear them — basically, anyone who eats.
If you’re a consumer, or work in the food industry, are a government agent or one of many other stakeholders, Stanley has a message for you: Wash your hands!
And watch this.
Stanley helps the website stay current and viable, manages the Food Recall Alerts, and is always looking for ways to engage and assist our staff and volunteers.
If he’s not at his desk, it’s probably best to look for Stanley at the nearest thrift store or yard sale. He avidly listens to podcasts, and likes taking long walks and reading short books. He loves a good board game and spending time with family and friends.
With a diverse background in food safety and sustainability, Dr. Vanessa Coffman brings a strong focus on environmental exposures across the food system.
She received her PhD in Environmental Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a MS from The University of California, Berkeley in Global Public Health and the Environment.
Vanessa has previously worked at STOP as a policy analyst. Since then, she has conducted research for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization in Sierra Leone (West Africa) examining opportunities and roadblocks to farming in a post-war setting. Additionally, she has done extensive research on occupational and residential exposures from large pork production operations in rural North Carolina, and conducted research based in Denmark examining the association between nitrate in drinking water (largely from food animal operations) and fetal health outcomes.
Dr. Coffman has testified in front of U.S. government officials and has co-authored peer-reviewed papers and helped draft federal regulations.
In her spare time, Vanessa fosters dogs and enjoys travelling with her husband, and trying new foods. And, on slow days, bothering Stanley.
Lily Yasuda is the Manager of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness. A recovering filmmaker, Lily has spent the last five years in the world of nonprofit programs management. She previously served as the Programs Manager for The Alexa Rose Foundation, the Festival Manager for Slamdance Film Festival, and the Festival Director for Boise Contemporary Theater’s BIPOC Playwrights Festival. She loves bringing her strengths as a storyteller and communicator to mission-driven nonprofits, as well as amplifying the lived experience of marginalized communities.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Chapman University (California), where she studied screenwriting. She has written and produced multiple award-winning films and has served as a juror for DePaul University’s Premiere Fest (Chicago), NFFTY (Seattle) and the Spirit of Independence Film Festival (Sheffield, UK).
Despite being a proud Idahoan, she is delighted to have carved out a home for herself in the Midwest.
When not at her desk, Lily can usually be found knitting, eating, cooking, or planning out the next meal she can get excited about. She currently resides with her partner and cat in Chicago.
Kelly Lombardo started with Stop Foodborne Illness in 2013 as a Consultant tasked with diligently and thoroughly ensuring compliance with individual state registration requirements. With more than 20+ years of knowledge and experience, Kelly became full time with Stop Foodborne Illness in 2016.
Naturally, her role and responsibilities have expanded, from being lead contact and liaison for conferences in which we are exhibiting or participating, to administering and supervising correspondence with donors, board members, and partner organizations.
Kelly researches, preps, and executes contact for foundation grants, community-supporting associations, and corporate gifting entities.
Additionally, Kelly provides all manner of executive support to Mitzi including making travel arrangements, maintaining calendar oversight, and generally (and specifically!) cultivating clarity and focus.
When she’s not up to her eyes in grants and foundation applications, Kelly loves spending time with daughter, Sammy, and with her family. Kelly reads voraciously, enjoys her neighbors and friends, and always has a good story to share.
Mary McGonigle-Martin is from Murrieta, California. For 28 years she worked as a high school counselor, retiring in 2022. In 2006, after her son contracted a foodborne illness from drinking contaminated raw milk (sold legally in California), McGonigle-Martin experienced first-hand the overall lack of knowledge regarding early detection and treatment of such sicknesses.
In the years since, she has testified as an expert witness against raw milk bills in multiple states. She’s also spoken before the National Environmental Health Association, the Nevada Food Safety Task Force, the Association of Food and Drug Officials, and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
“I learned about STOP and its work only after my son was ill and hospitalized for two months,” McGonigle-Martin said. “This organization, and the work they do is critical to individuals and families dealing with the aftermath of a foodborne illness. The emotional and psychological consequences for those affected needs to be addressed. I look forward to helping to fill that gap.”
Mike Taylor (fellow board member) notes that families like McGonigle-Martin’s are a key factor in driving awareness. “Mary and her family have lived through the harrowing days and nights of watching their child suffer because of a foodborne illness. It is because of stories like hers that we continue our work,” Taylor said.
Gillian Kelleher is a food safety and quality leader with a career in the food industry spanning four decades. Originally from Ireland, she has lived and worked in Ireland, the UK, France, and the US. Gillian’s global perspective comes from driving change in multiple countries and sectors (manufacturing, food service, retail, distribution) with leading companies such as Häagen Dazs, Burger King, Express Foods, and Pillsbury.
Gillian spent over twenty years working with Wegmans Food Markets where she led their food safety and quality assurance programs. As CEO and President of Kelleher Consultants LLC, Gillian is dedicated to enabling food companies build sustainable food safety and quality programs with a focus on prevention.
Gillian holds a bachelor’s degree in food science (dairy) from University College Cork, Ireland. Throughout her career, she has participated in extensive training and education programs at the business, scientific and executive leadership level.
Gillian was actively engaged for many years with the Food Marketing Institute’s Food Protection Committee. She is a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and American Society for Quality (ASQ).
Gillian was a former vice chair of the Global Food Safety Initiative Board of Directors and served on the Board of Directors of the American National Standards Institute. More recently, Gillian became actively engaged with Stop Foodborne Illness and was a co-founder of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness. Gillian is the incoming co-chair of the Board of Directors for Stop Foodborne Illness.
Gillian is the chair of the Educational Advisory Board for the Food Safety Summit and a long-standing member of Harvard’s Private and Public Scientific, Academic and Consumer Food Policy Committee (PAPSAC). Gillian also leads the Leafy Greens Safety Coalition (LGSC) of produce buyers.
Mary Heersink is a food safety advocate, and the author of E. Coli O157: The True Story of a Mother’s Battle with a Killer Microbe. In it, she recounts the harrowing experience of her son Damion, who in 1992 at the age of 11 ate contaminated hamburger meat at a Boy Scout outing and spent six-and-a-half weeks near death in pediatric intensive care.
Despite Damion’s ultimate victory over E. coli O157:H7, Mrs. Heersink found her confidence in our food safety systems shaken. Her encounters with ineffective government agencies led her to co-found S.T.O.P. (Stop Foodborne Illness) in the aftermath of the Pacific Northwest E.coli epidemic in 1993.
Mrs. Heersink has served on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. She has also testified before the U.S. Congress and has presented at scientific meetings, both nationally and internationally.
After 15 years serving on the Advisory Board of the Masters of Global Health Programme, Mrs. Heersink has recently (2024) retired. The Advisory Board is a joint initiative between McMaster University in Canada, Maastricht University in the Netherlands, Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India, and Thammasat University in Thailand, University College of Southeast Norway, and Universidad del Rosario in Colombia.
She also serves on the Board of Visitors for the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Medicine.
She has served on Boards of Directors for numerous nonprofit and civic organizations in her community of Dothan, Alabama, including Boys and Girls Clubs of Dothan, Wiregrass Museum of Art, Houston Academy, and Landmark Park.
Mrs. Heersink has been married for 40 years to Dr. Marnix Heersink, an ophthalmologist. Trained as a visual artist, she is currently illustrating a volume of ophthalmic muscle surgery.
Dr. and Mrs. Heersink have six children and seven grandchildren. Mrs. Heersink splits her time between Alabama and the Netherlands, where the couple renovated a 16th-century national monument in collaboration with a historical preservation foundation.
Rob Swenson has been with ORBA (Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd.) since 1996 and is a member of the firm’s Tax Leadership and Training Committees. Over the course of his career, Rob has gained extensive experience serving individuals, trusts, partnerships and privately-held corporations.
His specialties include tax compliance, tax planning and consultations for owners and key executives. Rob works closely with many law firms, professional corporations, professional athletes, restaurants and also with a wide variety of other industries.
While Rob focuses on supporting the firm and clients while on the job, away from work, he spends time supporting his family. Whether it’s using his season tickets to Cubs games on a sunny summer day, coaching kids’ sports or cheering on the University of Michigan, Rob enjoys being there for his family and friends.
Lone Jespersen is a published author, speaker, and the principal and founder of Cultivate SA, a Swiss-based organization dedicated to help organizations in the global supply chain make safe, great tasting food through cultural effectiveness.
Lone has worked with improving food safety through organizational culture improvements for 18 years since she started at Maple Leaf Foods in 2004. Lone chaired the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) technical working group “A Culture of Food Safety”, chaired, the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) professional development group “Food Safety Culture”, and currently the technical author on the BSI PAS320 “Practical Guide to Food Safety Culture.”
Lone holds a Ph.D. in Culture Enabled Food Safety from the University of Guelph, Canada and a Master in Mechanical Engineering from Syd Dansk University, Denmark. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for Stop Foodborne Illness, Lone serves as vice-chair on the board of the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI).
Lisa R Robinson is vice president of Global Food Safety and Public Health within the Research, Development & Engineering function of Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and vital resources.
In this role, Lisa leads a global network of divisionally aligned food safety and public health team members and is responsible for the functional leadership of the company’s food safety and public health strategies.
A recognized industry expert in food safety and public health protocols and strategies, Lisa joined Ecolab in 2019, following nine years at SunOpta, Inc., where she most recently served as vice president of Food Safety and Quality Assurance. Lisa previously held positions in food safety and quality assurance at Target Corporation, Pepsi Bottling Group, General Mills, Inc. and Schreiber Foods, Inc.
Lisa Robinson has a master’s degree in Food Safety and a bachelor’s degree in Food Science from Michigan State University.
Outside of work Lisa enjoys playing golf, biking and spending time with family and friends.
Roberta Wagner is Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association. Roberta spent 33 years in public service, most recently as the administrator of the Office of Policy and Program Development at the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the agency’s lead policy position.
Just prior to this she served as the deputy administrator of the Office of Field Operations at USDA’s FSIS where she assisted with providing leadership to a workforce of 7,800 inspection program personnel, including consumer safety officers and inspectors, public health veterinarians and food inspectors.
She began her regulatory career at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the office of Regulatory Affirs’ (ORA) Baltimore District Office in 1987, where Roberta worked for nearly 30 years. She also held the position of Assistant Commissioner for Operations in the ORA for two years, providing leadership to ORA’s force field, including investigators, compliance officers, laboratory staff and the ORA headquarters components that supported and interfaced with the field organization.
Previously, Roberta served as a director of the Office of Compliance in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and she later served as the CFSAN Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs and Associate Director for Food Safety Modernization Act Operations.
Ms. Wagner holds a bachelor of science in biological science with a minor in environmental science from Hiram College. She also holds a master of science in biochemistry from Bowling Green State University. She lives in in Harford County, Maryland, a Baltimore City suburb, and always keeps her house stocked with a myriad of CPG products that span the spectrum from food and beverages, dietary supplements and over the counter drugs, to household and personal care packaged goods.
Kiley Doherty survived a foodborne outbreak in 2013 (that occurred in her hometown of Phoenix, AZ). That was the catalyst by which Kiley became interested in food safety and epidemiology. After being infected with E. coli O157:H7, and subsequently developing HUS, Kiley almost died. Pursuing a career in public health seemed like the obvious career choice. Among other life goals, she hopes to raise awareness about the severity of foodborne illness and reduce the number of outbreaks.
Kiley received her Bachelors of Science in Biology and a minor in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona in 2020. In May 2022, Kiley graduated with her Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley. She enjoyed her time as a golden bear and completed her capstone project: Evaluating Risk Factors Associated with the Development of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Infected Children: A Systematic Review.
Following her MPH, Kiley was the 2022-2023 Dave Theno Food Safety Fellow for Stop Foodborne Illness. She enjoyed researching long-term health outcomes of STEC-HUS and working alongside food safety leaders. She is now a California Epidemiologic Investigation Service (Cal-EIS) fellow, and is working with Marin County Health and Human Services.
She is excited to continue to be a part of STOP as a constituent advocate member of the board. When she’s not working, Kiley likes to surf and hike throughout the Bay Area, spend time with friends, and search for the best bowl of ramen.
Craig Wilson is the Executive Vice President with IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group. With a career spanning over four decades, Mr. Wilson’s contributions to the field of food safety and quality assurance are exceptional.
Mr. Wilson spent over two decades at Costco Wholesale Corporation as the Vice President of Quality Assurance, Food Safety, Animal Welfare, and Non-Foods Quality Assurance. Costco’s food safety audit systems, Test and Hold Programs (pSTEC, Salmonella, Listeria) for fresh foods, x-ray product inspection, and unique positions on the Global Food Safety Initiative and the global regulatory environment, is well known industry wide. Mr. Wilson was instrumental in enhancing the company’s quality control measures and ensuring the highest food safety standards in the industry.
Prior to joining Costco Wholesale, Mr. Wilson worked as a Special Projects Director for Frigoscandia Equipment Food Safety Systems for over 24 years. During his time there, Craig published numerous research papers in the areas of food safety and food processing and holds many patents, the most notable for steam pasteurization of food, and is the recipient of the Gia/Matek Global Excellence in Food Safety Award.
Mr. Wilson’s involvement extends beyond his roles in various corporations. He has actively engaged with prominent organizations in the food safety sector. He presently serves on the Center for Produce Safety Board, chairs the Center for Food Integrity Board, and contributes to the Stop Foodborne Illness Board, the CGF Food Waste Coalition, and the National Food Safety Consortium Steering Committee. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Directors for Camp Korey and formerly co-chaired GFSI.
Stefanie Fogel focuses her practice on multi-national food and consumer product regulation and compliance, food and consumer product recall response, corporate compliance, and commercial, class action and multi-plaintiff litigation.
As Co-Chair of DLA Piper’s Global Consumer Goods, Food and Retail Sector and Co-Chair of the US Food and Beverage sub-sector, Stefanie works with large multinationals and start-ups in trending areas of the food and supplement space to encourage plant-based meat alternatives and hemp-based CBD products.
Her clients include national and international manufacturers of foods and dietary supplements, retail clothing, manufacturing equipment, chemical products, bio-technology detection devices and a variety of consumer products.
She has extensive experience advising on FDA, USDA, TTB, and CPSC related regulations. She is also a seasoned trial lawyer, and has developed a global multidisciplinary crisis management team to address issues arising out of recalls, contamination, natural disasters, equipment failure, and environmental leaks and spills.
A member of DLA Piper’s governing Policy Committee and the Hiring Committee, Stefanie and is also proud to be the co-founder and co-chair for DLA Piper’s National Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW) Program.
Stefanie received her J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.S. from the Wharton School of Finance where she graduated magna cum laude.
Joyce Williams is the President of Hatch Consulting.
Joyce has extensive experience in a variety of industries and organizations including consumer products, technology software and consulting, marketing and advertising and retail energy supply. The breadth of her experience stretches across Fortune 500, venture capital-backed, privately-held and start-up organizations. In each organization, Joyce has championed transformative change through the strategic 360° alignment of culture, communications and organizational design.
Joyce holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Millikin University. She currently serves as a mentor at 1871, where she advises and consults with the entrepreneurial community in Chicago. Joyce and her husband, Jim, live in Chicago and have four children.
Dr. Yaohua “Betty” Feng is an active consumer food safety researcher and communicator. She explores cultural, social, and environmental factors that affect consumer food safety behaviors, and their perception of safe-enhancing food technologies.
The goal of Dr. Feng’s research program is to identify barriers to understanding food safety issues and evaluate strategies that empower consumers to make science-based decisions. By using both qualitative and quantitative research methods and working with consumers, Betty’s work has impacted consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of food safety and safe-enhancing technologies.
A scientist with numerous publications, she is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, the International Association of Food Protection and was Purdue’s Office of Engagement’s 2021-2022 Societal Impact Fellow.
Dr. Feng is Associate Professor of Food Science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Before retiring in 2023, Dr. Patricia Griffin was Chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she worked for over 35 years.
For 20 years Dr. Griffin oversaw CDC’s epidemiologic work on bacterial enteric pathogens and investigations of outbreaks caused by foodborne bacteria. After documenting decades of little progress in reducing foodborne illnesses, Dr. Griffin and her staff turned their attention to building models to estimate the true number of U.S. foodborne illnesses and the percentage transmitted by each food category. These analyses identified which food-pathogen pairs are responsible for the highest proportion of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. The annual estimates have been used to prioritize foods for interventions that improve safety.
Dr. Griffin directed CDC’s investigation of the Jack in the Box Escherichia coli O157 outbreak in 1993. She then worked with other public health officials and consumer groups to raise awareness that helped lead to USDA passing legislation that significantly improved meat inspection. In 2006, Dr. Griffin was very involved in the investigation of the E. coli O157 outbreak from spinach, which many saw as a major impetus in the push for the Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed into law in 2011.
Dr. Griffin guided investigations of outbreaks of Listeria infections that resulted in measures that markedly improved the safety of deli meats and hotdogs. She directed the work of the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), which tracks the incidence of major foodborne illnesses. In recent years, she assembled and presented data demonstrating the important role of chicken in the intractably high rate of Salmonella infections, raising awareness about this problem.
After attending medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Griffin did a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She trained in epidemiology in CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, in Atlanta.
A scientist with more than 285 publications, Dr. Griffin received CDC’s Shepard Award for best scientific paper, the Distinguished Service Medal from the US Public Health Service, and CDC’s Charles C. Shepard Award for Lifetime Scientific Achievement. She has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and is past President of the American Epidemiological Society.
Mike Taylor got his start in food safety at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a staff attorney (1976-80) and served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy (1991-94) before moving to the USDA where he served as Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety (1994-96).
Before rejoining the FDA in 2009, Mike spent close to a decade conducting food safety, food security and public health policy research and serving as a Senior Fellow at the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, where he conducted research on U.S. policies affecting agricultural development and food security in Africa.
In his third stint at the FDA as the Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, Mike led the comprehensive overhaul of FDA’s food safety program Congress mandated in the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 and oversaw all of FDA’s food-related activities, including its nutrition, labeling, food additive, dietary supplement, and animal drug programs. Mike Taylor is currently a senior fellow at the Meridian Institute, focusing on food safety globally and food security in Africa and other developing regions.
In the private sector, Mike founded the food and drug practice and was a partner in the law firm of King & Spalding, was Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Company, and served on the boards of the Alliance to End Hunger and RESOLVE, Inc. He is currently a member of the board of Clear Labs, Inc.
Dr. Ben Chapman is department head of Agricultural and Human Sciences, professor and director of the Safe Plates food safety extension and research program at North Carolina State University.
With the goal of reducing foodborne illness, his group researches food handling and food safety systems; designs and implements food safety strategies; and, evaluates messages and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, the Safe Plates program investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food.
Ben is a past Co-Chair of Stop Foodborne Illness board of directors. Ben also co-hosts two podcasts, Food Safety Talk and Risky or Not as well as participates in social media.
Find him at @benjaminchapman on Twitter.
