Stop Foodborne Illness, also known as STOP, stands out as the only organization committed to empowering survivors of foodborne illness. For over 30 years, STOP has served as the leading advocate for safe food.
Through collaboration with consumers, academic partners, the food industry, and government entities, STOP focuses on the importance of food safety, advocates for impactful policy changes, provides invaluable support to affected families, and drives culture shift within the food industry to prioritize food safety as a critical public health concern.
The following programs and activities are central to the mission of STOP and greater food safety:
• Consumer Support & Resources
STOP has become a leading resource for consumers who experience foodborne illness. Looking for someone to talk to or seeking information on managing the life-long complications that can accompany surviving (or experiencing the death of a loved one) due to contaminated food can be accessed through STOP.
• Advocacy & Policy Change
STOP regularly convenes parties that may not typically collaborate. Bringing food companies, industry associations, government agencies, academia, and consumers to the table to approach food safety risks and solutions in every aspect of the food supply chain.
• Encourage & Strengthen Food Safety Culture
The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness connects STOP constituents with Alliance members in the food industry. Sharing our personal stories motivates organizations and employees at all levels to embrace strong, positive food safety culture.
September is a great month for brushing up on your food safety skills, quizzing friends and family,
and taking charge of your health while the summer sun is still out.
Here are links to some quick facts, flyers, and tools to enhance your food safety education.
Some simple tips can help keep you and your loved ones safe.
Alex is a proven leader in Food Safety and Quality Assurance with more than 16 years of leadership experience across food manufacturing operations, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement. Currently, Alex is a senior manager of supplier quality management at Nestlé USA. In this role he is responsible for partnering with companies across the food industry to ensure compliance and food safety within his organization’s supply chain.
Throughout his career, Alex has delivered measurable improvements in food safety performance with a focus on foreign body elimination, validated cleaning programs, reductions in consumer complaints, and the implementation of robust compliance programs. As a Quality Manager, he has led ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000 certification initiatives, built problem-solving capability, and achieved substantial reductions in foreign material defects.
His experience and expertise spans FDA and USDA regulations, FSMA, HACCP, and GFSI systems, with extensive experience leading regulatory responses, crisis management, food safety initiatives, and food safety culture development across global manufacturing operations.
Abigail is a food safety and quality leader with more than 13 years of experience advancing consumer protection and strengthening food safety systems across the food industry.
As an R&D Principal Scientist at PepsiCo, she provides global technical leadership in sanitation, hygienic design, contamination prevention, and food safety risk management across complex manufacturing and innovation environments.
Throughout her career, Abigail has been recognized for translating food safety science, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices into practical, scalable solutions that strengthen both operations and governance. Her expertise spans global food safety and sanitation standards, risk-based ingredient and process assessments, contamination prevention strategies, supplier and manufacturing risk management, and digital transformation initiatives that improve consistency, efficiency, and decision making.
Abigail is passionate about proactive prevention, embedding food safety into equipment, processes, and emerging technologies from the earliest stages of development. With a forward-looking perspective and a strong passion for elevating food safety culture, Abigail is helping shape a future where safer food isn't simply the goal—it's built into the way the industry operates.
Alexandra is the Food Safety Director – Southeast at Fresh Express, where she is responsible for the east coast agricultural operations food safety program, environmental monitoring, and provides corporate food safety and quality oversight for the Columbia, SC facility.
Prior to working at Fresh Express, Alexandra was the Food Safety Director of Agricultural Operations at McEntire Produce. She volunteers her time as a member of the Center for Produce Safety Technical Committee and as a steering committee member for the International Fresh Produce Association Food Safety Council.
Alexandra received her Ph.D. in Food Science with minors in microbiology and epidemiology from Cornell University under Martin Wiedmann and Renata Ivanek. During graduate school, she modeled pathogen die-off and presence in the pre-harvest produce environment and assisted companies in improving their Listeria environmental monitoring programs.
