MeatingPod

Developing new products that attract consumer attention is a goal for all food manufacturing companies, and Land O'Frost, a manufacturer of specialty meats and packaged deli meats is no exception. Julie Lubash, director of research and development and innovation at Lansing, Ill.-based Land O'Frost provides insights on how the family-owned company developed one of its newest innovations: a line of premium chicken breast and ham deli products featuring hot honey flavors. She describes how consumer interest in protein-rich snacking is inspiring meat companies to keep an eye on the types of new products that will boost consumer attention along with sales.

Hybrid meat products — those that combine conventional animal protein with vegetables or plant-based proteins — have had difficulty getting consumers on-board. In fact, new research by Food System Innovations (FSI) indicates that prospective customers get turned off by too much information about what's actually in the burger or chicken nugget or the like. But without that ingredient information, these products fair remarkably well in blind consumer taste-tests: Half of tasters in the recent TASTY Award competition offered by FSI affiliate NECTAR rated what NECTAR calls “balanced protein” products as the same or better than their animal protein equivalent. Tim Dale, FSI's category innovation director, joins Alt-Meat for this MeatingPod episode to discuss balanced proteins and new avenues for helping this category find what could be a lucrative market for processors of all kinds.

As processors continue to expand efficiencies and improve worker safety, Dr. Brian Kiepper from the University of Georgia takes our MeatingPod listeners on a tour of early automation efforts, notes where technology stands today and outlines the potential for tech advances in the near future. Dr. Kiepper also explains that meat plant automation doesn't eliminate jobs, but offers an opportunity to redeploy experienced employees to other parts of the processing plant, even in the early days of adoption. Additionally, he provides insights on opportunities to use data collected by automated equipment to improve plant operations.

In this inaugural episode of the MeatingPod Editor's Roundtable, Meatingplace Co-Editor-in-Chief Tom Johnston and Managing Editor Peter Ricci discuss the state of the poultry processing industry and where the protein may be headed in the near future. Both editors have covered protein processing businesses for years and offer their insights regarding poultry demand fluctuations. Tom and Peter also describe how the industry is covered in Meatingplace through contacts with processing managers through trade show visits, webinars and other one-on-one channels. The discussion also covers the impact of avian influenza and some of the more unusual observations they've seen across the poultry industry over time.

The challenge of implementing and maintaining food safety standards at any food manufacturing plant requires strict record-keeping, solid communications and a commitment to working with inspectors on both the federal and state levels. In this episode, Brian Kellerman, chief quality and food safety officer at Kellerman Consulting, describes implementation of technically complex food safety projects and describes how food safety efforts have evolved in the last five years. He also offers insights on where these food safety initiatives may be headed as meat processors continue to aim to provide safe products.

The way Jeff “Trip” Tripician sees it, he didn't leave his job as CEO of a conventional meat company to become CEO of the Dutch cultivated meat company Meatable; rather, he went from CEO of one meat company to another. After decades working to institute progressive practices within the U.S. meat industry, Trip is pushing the cultivated meat industry to progress by, essentially, helping them understand that they are meat companies, not food-tech companies. And by hammering home the idea that feeding the world's population is strategy, not a competition, he aims to create that brass ring of business — synergy. Trip Tripician joined MeatingPod for a wide-ranging and frank discussion of meat, alt-meat, food-tech, the climate, and the crossroads at which they all are standing.

In this episode, Stephanie Major, a senior at Iowa State University, outlines a research project that aimed to better understand how bacon becomes discolored under varying types of retail lights. With Major as co-leader of the research team, the study involved treating cured bacon with natural antioxidants and then packaging the product in aerobic (overwrap) and anaerobic (vacuum packed) containers. Major and Dr. Terry Hauser, associate director at Iowa State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, explain the results of the study, which found that the type of packaging was more effective than an antioxidant treatment alone in preventing photo-oxidation in bacon in storage or on retail shelves.

In this episode, Kromm will outline the specifics of the original USDA plan to monitor Salmonella contamination levels in processing plants as well as the goals for tracking various serotypes of Salmonella as well as other pathogens among poultry. She also notes that the proposed regulations – which were challenged by the poultry industry and other stakeholders – ultimately could have complicated the processing and supply chain needs of the chicken and turkey processors. She also will update the status of the battle against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is now in its fourth year and has affected wild birds, broilers, egg layers and a wide range of other mammals, including dairy cows, cats, dogs, otters, foxes and other domestic and wild animals. Kromm also outlines other approaches under consideration in response to HPAI, including the use of vaccines.

Developing custom flavors for new and existing foodservice and restaurant customers for sous vide proteins involves collaboration and communication, according to Keith Goerl, Vice President, R&D and Commercialization at Ed Miniat LLC. Successfully meeting client needs means employing a variety of channels to stay ahead of emerging flavor trends and testing new concept inside the in-house kitchens, he adds. In this episode, Goerl also addresses operational lessons learned during the pandemic and how the resurgence of foodservice and new relationships forged during COVID affected Miniat's post-pandemic business. 

Confusion is a major barrier for alt-meat companies struggling to gain traction with shoppers — confusion about healthfulness, ingredients, labels. Add to that a disconnect between consumer expectation and reality on matters of taste and texture. In short, consumers don't trust the information they're getting. Trust in the food system is what the Center for Food Integrity is all about, and CFI has new data that segments consumers by levels of trust, in their food and in the players in the food industry. From the “progressive disruptor” to the “comfort seekers,” Charlie Arnot, CEO of CFI, has studied these micro-communities. He knows who they listen to, and why — drawing a road map for alt-meat companies to build brand relationships with their end-users.

As avian influenza continues to affect the poultry industry – as well as dairy cows and other mammals like cats and even seals – researchers are developing a hand-held device that can detect the virus that causes bird flu in the air in minutes with a success rate of 90%. Dr. Rajan Chakrabarty at Washington University in St. Louis, is leading a team of scientists that previously created an electrochemical capacitive biosensing (ECP) device to detect the virus that spread COVID-19 five years ago. The current goal is to shorten the time to confirm bird flu in such places as poultry barns, farms and commercial hatcheries. He also tells MeatingPod that the team plans to develop an ECB that simultaneously senses multiple types of viruses in the air with the same level of effectiveness.

With current USDA rules on Salmonella in frozen and raw poultry products, the fight to combat microbial infection also is being waged on the hatchery level using research that ultimately could protect humans from some biological invasions. Dr. Margie Lee from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is involved in groundbreaking research on how the chicken microbiome allows chicks to fight off Salmonella after they hatch in a concept called competitive exclusion. Dr. Lee offers insights into how these findings are advancing the cause against Salmonella and how a seminar on earthworms sparked the concepts that ultimately could better protect other species by monitoring microbiome conditions.

According to Tim Vlcek, a food safety consultant and also the CEO of a direct-to-consumer meat business, explains how maintaining proper food safety protocols can directly impact a processor's profitability because it makes managing operations more efficient. In this episode, he outlines the connection between maintaining consistent food safety standards that start with upper management and, in an ideal situation, work their way down to the production line. He also describes how his meat company develops new products by making sure he and his team understand what customers want either in retail or in foodservice.

North Carolina is home to a number of groundbreaking alt-meat development centers, from the soon-to-be-completed Believer Meats cultivated meat plant, to the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab, and most recently, the first of three global Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein at North Carolina State. Bill Aimutis has been in the proteins industry for decades, and now is co-director of the Bezos Center in North Carolina. In this episode, he makes a return visit to MeatingPod's Alt-Meat edition to discuss what makes the US Bezos Center unique, as well as an integral part of the global alt-meat ecosystem, and what to expect from the center in the coming year.

Working with a research team at the University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture, Dr. Dongyi Wang will outline for our MeatingPod listeners new advances that can improve the detection rate of woody chicken breast on the processing line 95% of the time. Utilizing cutting-edge hyperspectral imaging as chicken breasts move down the line, the system can spot the meat quality defect that result in a crunchy texture or other textural issues before the product reaches consumers. The high-tech imaging is expected to help the poultry industry address an issue that costs processors millions of dollars per year and, eventually, could play a role in worker safety or even food safety, Dr. Wang adds.

As the ongoing threat of highly pathogenic avian influence (HPAI) enters its fourth year, research continues to develop preventative and protective approaches with regard to the nation's poultry industry. Sunil Mor is an assistant professor at South Dakota State University and is one of the scientists focusing on the identification of various HPAI strains, specifically, avian metaneurovirus that is affecting turkey flocks. In this episode, he'll describe efforts to identify this threat with the goal of developing a vaccine that can slow down the spread of a wide range of these highly contagious – and deadly – viruses.

Food safety veteran Sharon Beals offers perspectives on what food manufacturers need to know about continuing the learning process when it comes to protecting workers and customers from foodborne illnesses. In the wake of last year's listeria outbreak that sent nearly 60 people to the hospital and played a role in the deaths of at least nine people, Beals notes that deli meat processor Boar's Head and others can glean new approaches to improve conditions at their plants. Vigilance, communication and sharing information on systems that work will be key to improving food safety down the road, she adds. 

The alt-meat sector has plenty of conferences, but this May, the largest trade show dedicated to alt-meat will be held in Frankfurt, Germany, adding to the list of global conferences for alt-meat networking. In fact, an entire hall at the triannual IFFA show, which otherwise is dedicated to conventional meat production, will focus on alternative proteins. The Good Food Institute-Europe is partnering with IFFA on the World of Alternative Proteins and will help anchor the hall. In light of that collaboration, GFI-Europe's Managing Director Alex Mayers joins MeatingPod to discuss the programs and opportunities that specifically will be available to alt-meat attendees at this year's show.

Automation has been part of the U.S. manufacturing industry since the 1930s and an increasingly prominent factor in food manufacturing in more recent decades. Our MeatingPod guest is Steve Mustard, who has more than 35 years of experience in automated systems. In this episode, he'll cover some of that history and provide insights on how meat processors today are successfully integrating automation into their operations. Mustard – an independent consultant and expert at the International Society of Automation – also will outline the integration of Artificial Intelligence to enhance these systems, influencing processing, warehousing and even food safety.

With the monitoring of foodborne pathogens attracting even more focused efforts, today's MeatingPod guest offers insights on methodologies that a recent study of Campylobacter showed that the pathogen could still be detected in poultry sold on store shelves. Dr. Agneta Dziegiel is a researcher at the Quadrum Institute in Norwich, England, and was part of a research team that used a variety of sampling techniques to uncover how Campylobacter isolates can slip through food safety monitoring practices and threaten public health.

With USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service focusing new protocols to detect Listeria monocytogenes in meat, food safety veteran Sharon Beals offers her perspectives on steps meat processors adopted in the wake of the deadly Boar's Head outbreak that was connected to the deaths of 10 consumers in 2024. She also outlines the goals of the Women's Meat Industry Network, which aims to boost education, development and promotion of women in the meat and poultry industries, an organization where she serves as executive director.

More than any other segment of the alternative meats sector, cultivated meat is where innovation meets controversy. Long before it hits store shelves, meat grown in bioreactors has sparked a heated debate in the food culture wars. Government bans and social media backlash are complicating its path to regulatory approval and consumer acceptance. Fortunately, Kimberly Ong is here as our guide: The consultant with Boston-based Vireo Advisors science and policy firm spoke with Alt-Meat about the headwinds that slow the progress of the science and the policy. She also provides advice for leaders in the alt-meat sector on what to do about these challenges.

Worker injury rates in the U.S. poultry industry posted a significant decline in the last 29 years and this week's MeatingPod guest explains how this milestone was achieved through innovation, education and collaboration. Matt Spencer is vice president of human resources and safety programs at USPOULTRY, which monitors trends industrywide. He notes that poultry processors were eager to share new approaches that addressed such issues as musculoskeletal disorders and other potential hazards in the workplace that threaten worker safety. He also addresses how robotics and automation initiatives are improving safety on several levels of poultry processing operations.

Dr. Denise Heard, vice president of Research Programs at the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, updates recent results from research partially funded by the organization known primarily as USPOULTRY. She also outlines how the process works regarding the research support arms of the association and its USPOULTRY Foundation. Dr. Heard provides a sneak peek into the upcoming 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), the annual poultry industry gathering scheduled for Atlanta in late January 2025. USPOULTRY is a major sponsor of the gathering that offers attendees the opportunity to attend more than 80 educational, college student and career program sessions and networking events throughout the three-day trade show.

In this MeatingPod episode, Brad Johnson, CEO of Verde Farms, outlines the challenges and processes to maintain innovations and safety standards for the company's line of 100% grass-fed and organic beef products. The Mass.-based processor is focused on keeping the lines of communications open with its retail customers in addition to conducting its own research on consumer trends. Verde Farms, he notes, is focused on trying to keep ahead of what shoppers are looking for when it comes to grass-fed and organic meat products.

The way Jeff “Trip” Tripician sees it, he didn't leave his job as CEO of a conventional meat company to become CEO of the Dutch cultivated meat company Meatable; rather, he went from CEO of one meat company to another. After decades working to institute progressive practices within the U.S. meat industry, Trip is pushing the cultivated meat industry to progress by, essentially, helping them understand that they are meat companies, not food-tech companies. And by hammering home the idea that feeding the world's population is strategy, not a competition, he aims to create that brass ring of business — synergy. Trip Tripician joined MeatingPod for a wide-ranging and frank discussion of meat, alt-meat, food-tech, the climate, and the crossroads at which they all are standing.

This episode centers on a process that offers assistance to meat processors seeking methods to make sustainability more effective and consistent. Ryan Jones of Indigo Ag works with a variety of consumer product companies by connecting them with supplies of low-carbon grain that is used in animal feed, resulting in reduced rates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in cattle, for example. The company offers a concept that helps entities move closer to those goals from the farm and ranch level. Since reducing GHGs is among several factors that the meat industry cites as a goal to improve sustainability, while Indigo Ag's efforts may offer a specific role toward helping companies meet new standards with respect to the environment.

In this episode, Dr. Casey Owens and Dongyi Wang of the University of Arkansas discuss new advances in identifying quality defects on the chicken processing line and advances in robotics that can handle repetitive line functions like chicken hanging. Our guests also outline how students at the university are benefitting from internship opportunities that can open doors to other jobs in meat production or to a wider range of meat science research opportunities. The insightful conversation also marks the first time that two former MeatingPod guests appear in the same episode.

In this third episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, describes how consumers feel about food safety and innovation in meat products they purchase, prepare and eat. She also will outline how product lines recover after recalls from the consumer perspective and the successful job that processors are doing in developing new types of cuts and offering trending flavors that consumers are looking for when they shop or go out to restaurants for their meals.

U.S. consumers have a lot on their minds besides food, even as they're standing in front of the supermarket's display of meat or alt-meat packages. They're keeping an eye on their kids, putting together a menu in their heads and gasping at the cost of proteins. An alt-meat brand has between 7 and 17 seconds to sell itself to a typical U.S. shopper. Those aren't great odds, but Chris DuBois has some ideas about how to beat them as the alt-meat industry looks ahead to 2025. The executive vice president of fresh foods for research firm Circana counsels alt-meat brands to focus on frozen, on forms and flavors, and on the findable core group of heavy alt-meat consumers that already exists. Chris joined MeatingPod to elaborate on those ideas, and other trends in the U-S and global alt-meat consumer space.

Dr. Konrad Ahlin, senior robotics researcher at the Georgia Tech Research Institute provides updates on the use of flexible automated systems, robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality in food processing plants. In this episode, he outlines how these advances are affecting plant workers and refining specific operations, like movement of product and maintaining yields throughout the processing line. Dr. Ahlin also discusses how collaborations with researchers at other educational institutions are advancing development of new ideas for automated systems and robotics at meat plants. 

Just in time for Thanksgiving 2024, Butterball LLC Chief Operating Officer Neal Walsh updates MeatingPod on the turkey processor's recent automation upgrades and addresses supply questions in the wake of declining avian influenza outbreaks among birds this year. Butterball's Head of Innovation Michelle Lieszkovszky also will join the conversation to discuss a revolutionary new Butterball turkey that allows home cooks to skip the thawing step entirely and place the frozen bird directly into the oven while preparing the Thanksgiving holiday meal.

Maintaining proper food safety protocols can directly impact a processor's profitability because overall it makes managing operations more efficient as well as affecting brand protection efforts, according to Tim Vlcek, a food safety consultant and also the CEO of a direct-to-consumer meat business. In this episode, he outlines the connection between maintaining consistent food safety standards that start from upper management and in an ideal situation work their way down to the production line. He also explains how his meat company develops new products by making sure he and his team understand what customers want either in retail or in foodservice.

Several companies across several continents are blazing a trail to a future cultivated meat market for consumers — and they've run into slippery slopes and rock slides. One company that has run into fewer obstacles is Australia's Vow. Known for adding a dollop of showmanship to its hard-core R&D, Vow is both producing a product that's consistently available on the market and promising new announcements in the near future. Vow CEO George Peppou joined MeatingPod from Australia to discuss the cultivated meat business in general, and Vow's business in particular. 

A special panel of three specialists in virology and veterinary medicine will offer specific updates on how various forms of the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have affected U.S. birds, dairy cows and even humans in recent years. Our power trio of experts will focus on viral mutations, cross-species migration and what lessons the poultry industry might be able to offer regarding biosecurity efforts aimed at containing the spread of this ever-changing virus. They also note that processors can — and should — play a more specific role in efforts to limit the viral risk to overall food safety.

Now that USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued its final ruling designating Salmonella as an adulterant in raw, breaded and stuffed chicken products, poultry processors may soon be required take another look at their operations. In this episode, Dr. John Maurer from the School of Animal Sciences at Virginia Tech will outline some of the options available to the makers of such prepared foods have in addressing the new rules. Dr. Maurer has an extensive history studying how Salmonella colonization works in chickens and describes the status of plans being developed by the poultry industry to meet the FSIS standards when they go into effect in 2025. 

Food safety veteran Sharon Beals provides her perspectives on what food manufacturers need to know about continuing the learning process when it comes to protecting workers and customers from foodborne illnesses. In the wake of the recent listeria outbreak that sent nearly 60 people to the hospital and played a role in the deaths of at least nine people, Beals notes that deli meat processor Boar's Head and others can glean new approaches to improve conditions at their plants. Vigilance, communication and sharing information on systems that work will be key to improving food safety down the road, she notes.

All meat analogue companies face a potentially huge hurdle right out of the gate: The cost of the physical plant necessary to make their particular foodstuffs, whether in the form of bioreactors or extruders or mixers, or any of an endless number of other pieces of equipment. And that doesn't account for the cost of running and maintaining and manning a facility. Many founders are vowing to build their business on an “asset-light” platform, but what does that really mean? Tony Moses, former executive at the food industry-focused design, engineering, construction and consulting firm CRB Group, explains the options, the pitfalls, the costs and the value of a solid TEA, which he explains in the podcast. 

In this third episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, describes how consumers feel about food safety and innovation in meat products they purchase and eat. She also will outline how product lines recover after recalls from the consumer perspective and the successful job that processors are doing in developing  new types of cuts and offering trending flavors that consumers are looking for when they shop or go out to restaurants for their meals. 

In this second episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, will explain whether consumers understand or care about the millions of dollars that meat processors are spending to upgrade their operations through robotics and AI. She also will provide data on the importance of food safety to consumers and how processors should take advantage of the opportunity to explain how these tech advances are benefitting consumers in terms of product choices and food safety. 

As robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) move into more prominent roles in meat processing and other industries, our guest this week is predicting that using virtual reality equipment — think headsets and hand controllers —  are likely to become required so manufacturers can keep up with the competition. Colin Usher is research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute at Georgia Tech University and specializes in VR systems that provide an interface between humans and robotic systems that resemble today's high-end video games. He contends that VR equipment may eventually allow plant workers to do their jobs remotely in air-conditioned rooms instead of the cold, wet and damp floor in a meat processing plant. Usher also believes that companies will need to shift to VR systems and predicts that advances in the technology could ultimately lead to lower implementation costs. 

With new USDA rules on Salmonella in frozen and raw poultry taking effect, the fight to address microbial infection actually is also being waged on the hatchery level using research that ultimately could protect humans from some biological invasions. Our guest is Dr. Margie Lee, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. She also developed groundbreaking research on how the chicken microbiome allows chicks to fight off Salmonella after they hatch in a concept called competitive exclusion. Dr. Lee offers insights into how researchers are using these findings and how a seminar on earthworms led to concepts that could have implications in protecting other species by paying attention to microbiome conditions.

This episode will focus on a specific category of food products that includes meat that is marketed to consumers following strict Jewish dietary laws or those who appreciate the value of foods that carry the Kosher seal. Felipe Kleiman, founder and CEO of KLM Kosher, outlines the efforts meat processors (and other food companies) must make to offer Kosher-certified products and describes innovations and food developments that allow purveyors to expand their Kosher offerings. He also notes what meat processors need to do to address a looming global meat shortage that has been projected over the next decade, potentially expanding the market for new Kosher-certified products.

Several companies across several continents are blazing a trail to a future cultivated meat market for consumers. They have, invariably, run into slippery slopes and rock slides. One company that has run into fewer obstacles is Australia's Vow. Adding a tablespoon of showmanship to a gallon of hard-core R&D, and remaining dedicated to not just novel technologies but novel food experiences, Vow is both producing a product that is consistently on the market and is planning a series of new announcements in the near future. Vow CEO George Peppou joined MeatingPod from Australia to discuss the cultivated meat business in general, and Vow's business in particular.

With major meat processors making bold investments in high-tech upgrades, companies like Cargill Inc. are seeing benefits in terms of increased efficiency, higher levels of plant safety, improved yields on the production line and workers with new skills. In this episode of MeatingPod, Enrique Villars, Cargill North America's Manufacturing Excellence Leader, outlines how the Minneapolis-based processor's Factory of the Future concept is spreading to 35 Cargill plants and how the high-tech modernization effort is affecting operations. 

In this first episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, offers perspectives from the consumer point of view on protein purchases and consumption. This episode will focus on poultry, which posted measurable gains in the inflationary times compared with beef and pork. Roerink also will discuss trends among several generational demographics and the direction in which these also may be heading in 2024. The data could serve as a launching point for other consumer selections as well as potentially open doors for new concepts among protein producers.

In this episode, Verde Farms CEO Brad Johnson outlines the challenges and processes aimed at maintaining innovations and safety standards for the company's line of 100% grass-fed and organic beef products. The Mass.-based processor is focused on keeping the lines of communications open with its retail and restaurant customers in addition to conducting its own research on consumer trends. Verde Farms, he notes, is focused on trying to keep ahead of what shoppers are looking for when it comes to grass-fed and organic meat products. 

More than any other segment of the alternative meats sector, cultivated meat is where innovation meets controversy. Long before it hits store shelves, meat grown in bioreactors has sparked a heated debate in the food culture wars. Government bans and social media backlash are complicating its path to regulatory approval and consumer acceptance. Fortunately, Kimberly Ong is here as our guide: The consultant with Boston-based Vireo Advisors science and policy firm spoke with Alt-Meat about the headwinds that slow the progress of the science and the policy. And, she has advice for leaders in the alt-meat sector on what to do about it. 

In this episode, Agrimesh Technologies Vice President of Sales and Operations Erik Longtin outlines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is opening doors for farmers, growers — and, even some processors — to increase operating efficiencies, reduce costs and generate valuable data that can help improve how their facilities work. The Canadian-based company currently works with a variety of food production and animal growers in both North and South America and is looking at new approaches to expand the use of AI systems to monitor and manage control systems across the food production and related agricultural industries. 

In this episode, a panel of Danville Community College administrators and instructors describe a relationship the Virginia-based school has established with Tyson Foods Inc. The school offers a specific technical training program that gives eligible students who complete the program a chance to move into technical maintenance jobs at a high-tech Tyson chicken products plant in Danville, Va. Our panelists describe the progress the program is making in delivering qualified, full-time technicians and how the program is attracting new students in a “win-win” for all participants. The panel also describes how similar relationships with other types of companies in the region may be developed as feedback on the current partnership affirms the success of the program with Tyson.

Beyond managing programs at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences that focus on food safety protocols, Dr. Francisco Diez-Gonzalez also is the co-author of recent research into the eradication of Listeria monocytogenes using blue light and polymers. In this MeatingPod, he'll discuss progress in food safety management at food plants and the need for processors and researchers to maintain flexibility as pathogens adapt or emerge during the manufacturing stage. He also outlines the attributes that food safety experts of the future will need as challenges in maintaining food safety standards evolve.