In this week's episode of Food Safety Matters, Food Safety Magazine's editorial director speaks with Dr. John Spink on food fraud, what it is, how it's being addressed and the importance of preventing it before it occurs.

John Spink is the director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University. Over the years, John's research has focused on economically motivated food adulteration, including the use of adulterant substances, counterfeit products, stolen goods, smuggled goods, tampering and intentional mislabeling. His leadership positions include product fraud related activities with the International Organization for Standardization, Global Food Safety Initiative's (GFSI's) Food Fraud Think Tank, and U.S. Pharmacopeia. In addition to John's many involvements throughout the food industry, he is also a frequent contributor to Food Safety Magazine.

In addition to interviewing John Spink for this episode, our editorial director also had a chance to chat with Dr. Donald W. Schaffner on a recent handwashing study. Don is a Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers University. He has published over 150 peer reviews papers on a variety of topics including handwashing, cross-contamination, quantitative microbial risk assessment and predictive food microbiology. He is active in several scientific associations including the International Association for Food Protection where he is a past-president. Don co-hosts a podcast—Food Safety Talk—on microbial food safety. 

You can listen to our Food Safety Matters Podcast any time right here on our website. You can also listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play or Android.