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Welcome to the My Food Job Rocks Podcast where we interview professionals in the food industry and share their expert advice, fun stories, and their love of eating just for you
I’m your host, Adam Yee and you are listening to episode 73 with Dr. Darin Detwiler, Assistant Dean at Northeastern University College of Professional Studies
Darin’s son died of an E.coli outbreak and he has spent the last 25 years devoting his life to making the world a safer place.
Within the last 25 years, he’s become a Doctorate in Law and Policy where his main focus is to implement Food Policy. He’s talked with doctors, scientists, law makers, and graduate students into fighting for food safety. In his spare time, he comforts people who have gone through the same troubles as he has, and shares their stories.
Darin does a great job weaving intricate stories to give you the sense of importance in Food safety, which includes aspects of history, humanity and Chipotle.
A serious note for this interview: This is a very dense and emotional conversation of food safety. Darin really cares about what he does, and by the end of the episode, I hope you have a renewed sense of importance in food safety.
About Darin
Dr. Darin Detwiler is the Assistant Dean and a Professor of Food Policy at Northeastern University College of Professional Studies, Boston, MA. He is a food industry consultant, columnist, and frequent speaker at events across the country and beyond.
He is coincidentally going to be on American Greed (yes, that’s his voice) this week
Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dietitians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion–there’s something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it.
Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com
Knowledge Bombs
- Why deadly foodborne illnesses spikes during the summer months, which causes a bad experience in Thanksgiving
- The stories behind statistics. Focus on the stories.
- How the FDA has changed in the last 25 years
- How people being lazy can cause massive damage
- How history impacts food policy
- Everyone has a role to play in food safety
- Understanding the cause and effect in food safety
- Why Darin chooses Academia to do Food Safety
- How Darin balances out food industry stories and family stories and the differences between them
- How Darin’s perception of food safety has changed over time
- The lack of Ethics in the Peanut outbreak
- We talk smack about Chipotle
- I’m as old as Chipotle
Key Summary
How Darin has improved Food Safety: 1992 – operating a nuclear reactor, supported the USDA on food safety, went back to university and taught for 15 years in forensic science, Doctorate in Law and Policy and focus was on implementing food policy,
Two reasons why food safety fails: They don’t understand or they don’t care. Maybe we need to teach people earlier. Most Food Safety folly is based on greed
My Food Job Rocks: Food affects everyone and we connect to it on all aspects of life
What advice do you give people to excel at what they do?: If you see things and you don’t take action, or won’t eat your own product, ask questions. Be a self-advocate.
Why did Chipotle fail their food safety protocols?: Failure to invest in safety. The system needs work, but their response is textbook
What should Chipotle should have done to be better?: They can’t fix the past
Other Links
Stop Foodborne Illnesses
Jack-in-The-Box E.coli outbreak 1993
Food Fraud: Big in Europe
Bioterrorism
Upton Sinclair – The Jungle
Peanut Outbreak
Chipotle Outbreak
Contact: d.detwiler@neu.edu
Quality Assurance Magazine
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