Recently I met with the team at Deloitte Canada to offer some perspectives for a research report called Safe to move.  The report examines the issue of food safety and provides a comprehensive approach to help companies achieve their business objectives and manage food safety risks.

 Food safety can be a complex issue  and there are no ”silver bullets”  to solving all the challenges that food manufacturers face but this report provides solid recommendations of what all the players need to do to assess, build and monitor an effective food safety program.  

Click here to listen to the Deloitte Canada podcast.

“Creating a high performing food safety organization” is one of the pillars of Maple Leaf’s Food Safety Strategy.  We are committed to building a world-class food safety and quality team to ensure we have  strong  technical and scientific expertise throughout Maple Leaf.

I am pleased to welcome Peter Slade to my team as Senior Director, Food Safety Technical Affairs.  Peter is an internationally recognized food safety leader with over 30 years of diverse and extensive experience globally in the food industry, including experience in the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia and China.

Peter will play an integral role on the food safety leadership team and specifically will be responsible for working closely with each Maple Leaf business unit to identify opportunities to further mitigate potential food safety risks.  His work will include establishing clear lines of communication with the product development teams on new products as well as evaluating methods to reduce risk in current product lines.  Peter will keep abreast of new food safety technologies, best practices and the latest in food safety research. 

Peter began his career as Research Officer at Campden and Chorleywood Foods Research Association, U.K. and then in a Microbiologist position at Midwest Research Institute, U.S. where he provided food safety technical support to the government of Saudi Arabia.  He then joined Campbell Soup Company, U.S. as manager of Technical and Analytical Services. Peter then went on to McDonald’s Corporate Food Safety group where he led the Supplier/Distribution HACCP Programs across a number of different commodities as well as leading the McDonalds Food Safety Advisory Council.

Peter was recruited to the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST), an FDA and industry- funded research and education center. During nearly 10 years with the Center, he directed food safety research programs as well as taught a number of graduate classes in food science, microbiology and food safety. Peter also successfully led the FDA-sponsored Allergen Task Force, and chaired the committee that developed the standardized Juice HACCP Training Curriculum.

Peter holds a Ph.D. in Food Science (Microbiology) from the University of Guelph.  

We’re very pleased that Peter is bringing his wealth of expertise and knowledge to join our team and participate on the blog.  Welcome to Maple Leaf Foods Peter!

On October 23,  leaders across the Canadian food industry and government are coming together to share information and learn about emerging technologies and science, in order to produce safer food for Canadians.

The food safety symposium entitled “Enhancing Our Knowledge and Capabilities to Produce Safer Food” is the first gathering of its kind since the new Canadian Listeria policy was put into place after the lessons learned from last year’s Listeria crisis.

The symposium features presentations from Canada’s leading health and regulatory experts including Jane Billings, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Health Agency of Canada, who will discuss foodborne illness trends and public health initiatives in Canada.  Dr. Brian Evans, Executive Vice President, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, (CFIA) will discuss his agency’s regulatory approach and challenges and opportunities related to implementation of the new Listeria new policy.  Global experts in communication, detection and control will present the latest findings in testing and use of antimicrobials to build an effective Listeria management program, and discuss how to effectively communicate risk.  The event is hosted by Maple Leaf Foods.

Symposium presenters:

Jane Billings, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Brian Evans, Executive Vice President, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Dr. Kathy Glass, Associate Director, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin

Dr. Peter Sandman, Risk Communications Consultant

Dr. Martin Wiedmann, Associate Professor, Department of Food Science, Cornell University

Dr. Randall Huffman , Chief Food Safety Officer, Maple Leaf Foods

Iain Stewart, Senior Vice President, Transformation & Food Safety, Maple Leaf Consumer Foods