Home » Multimedia » Podcasts » Food Safety Matters » Ep. 134: Sandra Eskin: How USDA-FSIS is Tackling Salmonella in Poultry
Food Safety Matters
Food Safety Matters is a podcast for food safety professionals hosted by the Food Safety Magazine editorial team – the leading media brand in food safety for over 20 years. Each episode will feature a conversation with a food safety professional sharing their experiences and insights of the important job of safeguarding the world’s food supply.
Sandra Eskin was appointed Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in March 2021. In this role, Sandra leads the Office of Food Safety, overseeing the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which has regulatory oversight for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled.
Prior to joining USDA, Sandra was the Project Director for Food Safety at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. for over 10 years, and also served as the Deputy Director of the Produce Safety Project (PSP) from 2008–2009, a Pew-funded initiative at Georgetown University. Prior to The Pew Charitable Trusts, Sandra spent nearly 20 years as a public policy consultant to numerous consumer advocacy and public interest organizations, providing strategic and policy advice on food and drug safety, labeling, and advertising. She has served as a member of multiple federal advisory committees related to consumer information on prescription drugs, meat and poultry safety, and foodborne illness surveillance.
Beth Panko Briczinski, Ph.D. is the Senior Science Advisor for Milk Safety in the Office of Food Safety at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Casey McCue is the Conference Chair for the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) and the Director of the Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, a position he has held since 2000.
Megin Nichols, D.V.M. serves as the Deputy Division Director for the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases at the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
Brandon Carter, D.V.M. is a Food Safety Technical Advisor for Elanco Animal Health. Dr. Carter received his B.S. degree in Animal Science and his D.V.M. from Mississippi State University. He also holds an M.S. degree in Veterinary Epidemiology from West Texas A&M University. His areas of expertise are disease prevention and control for poultry, with specialized expertise in epidemiology and data analysis.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, J.D. is Senior Manager at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). She also serves as Deputy Chief of Party of EatSafe—Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Food—which is a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded, five-year program running through June 2024.
Richard Pluke, Ph.D. is the Food Safety Lead and Chief of Party for GAIN's EatSafe and an international rural development professional specializing in agricultural enterprises and value chains, with over 15 years of applied development experience in South America, Asia, and Africa.
Kathleen (Kathy) Glass, Ph.D. joined the Food Research Institute (FRI) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a food safety researcher in 1985, where she currently serves as Associate Director. Her primary duties are to assist the food industry in assessing and developing formulation-safe foods. In addition, she trains and oversees undergraduate and graduate student independent study research, and is a regular instructor at workshops on food microbiology, preventive controls, Listeria control methods, processed meat and processed cheese safety, and dairy Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
Mark (Mick) Micklos, CP-FS, is an executive dedicated to food safety education and advocacy. His 27-year career includes 16 years in restaurant operations, training, and food safety, the majority of which was spent holding Director- or Vice President-level positions at Waffle House Inc.; seven years at the National Restaurant Association working on behalf of industry, culminating as Director of Food Safety and QA Programming; and most recently, as a Partner-Advisor with Active Food Safety LLC, where his work with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) has led to breakthrough discoveries in Food Safety Management System and food safety culture behavior in foodservice establishments. Mick has served on 19 professional advisory boards and committees. He has published six articles and three book chapters, and has contributed to two guidance documents. He has earned ten awards for his work and is a frequently requested speaker on a wide variety of topics.
Barbara Kowalcyk,Ph.D., M.A.,is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and the Director of the Food Policy Institute at George Washington University's (GW's) Milken Institute School of Public Health. She also has an appointment in the U.S. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and is a fellow with the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness.