Forming a Food Coalition: Brian Ronholm Talks Policy, Safety, and Food Defense

Description

On today’s episode, we sit down with Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Reports. Brian has a storied career in legislative and regulatory food policy and safety. He formerly acted as the Deputy Under Secretary of Food Safety, at the United States Department of Agriculture, and speaks extensively on emerging technologies and modernization in the food industry. Brian and Arjun delve into various conversations around food regulation and safety. Touching on Brian’s real world experience, they discuss how to encourage a meaningful conversation between consumers and producers, fostering open dialogue and collaboration between all stakeholders (including government agencies, industry, consumer advocacy groups, and consumers themselves), and how we can work towards a safer and more resilient food supply chain.Guest Bio:"Brian Ronholm is the Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports. He leads CR’s advocacy efforts to advance a safe and healthy food system. Brian brings deep legislative and regulatory experience in food policy to CR. He also writes and speaks extensively on food policy issues, with a particular emphasis on emerging technologies, food safety modernization, and pending regulatory policies facing the food industry.During his tenure as Deputy Under Secretary, Food Safety, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Brian provided leadership, management, and oversight of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the public health agency with more than 9,000 employees responsible for ensuring the safety of meat, poultry, catfish, and processed egg products.In addition to overseeing FSIS, he chaired the U.S. Codex Policy Steering Committee, an interagency partnership that engages stakeholders in the advancement of science-based international food safety standards to facilitate fair trade, and served as Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), which provides impartial scientific advice to federal agencies for use in developing integrated foo