Smarter Food Safety

Smarter Food Safety is a science-based, straight-talk podcast hosted by former FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas. Each episode goes beyond headlines to explore outbreaks, policy, culture, and emerging risks, with practical insights from global leaders across industry, government, and academia. Designed for food safety professionals, decision-makers, and innovators, the show delivers real-world solutions and forward-thinking conversations to help build a safer, smarter, more resilient food system. The Smarter Food Safety Podcast is sponsored by Ecolab, a trusted partner throughout my career. They’re dedicated to protecting what’s vital, by advancing food safety, ensuring clean and safe environments, and enhancing water quality around the world.

Smarter Food Safety is a technology podcast hosted by Frank Yiannas, with 15 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Frank Yiannas hosts Smarter Food Safety, a technology show with 15 episodes published.

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  Episode #13

  Food Safe D Begins with Me: Leadership Lessons (with Lee Cockerell)

  Aug 12, 202650 minS1

  Food safety begins with leadership. In this episode of the Smarter Food Safety Podcast, Frank Yiannas sits down with Lee Cockerell, former Executive Vice President of Operations at Walt Disney World Resort, to explore how leaders shape culture and turn food safety from a set of rules into a shared responsibility. Lee shares lessons on setting clear expectations, building teams, training employees, removing hassles, role modeling, psychological safety, positive recognition, and paying attention to what we tolerate. Together, Frank and Lee make the case that food safety begins with each of us, and that every person has a role to play. The Smarter Food Safety Podcast is sponsored by Ecolab, a trusted partner throughout my career. They’re dedicated to protecting what’s vital, by advancing food safety, ensuring clean and safe environments, and enhancing water quality around the world.

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  Smarter Food Safety

  Frankly Speaking: Cyclospora, What You Need to Know

  Aug 3, 202632 min

  In this special bonus episode of the Smarter Food Safety Podcast, Frank Yiannas launches a new series, Frankly Speaking, to provide timely perspectives on the food safety issues shaping our world. Frank examines the unprecedented Cyclospora outbreak in the United States, explaining what Cyclospora is, why these outbreaks are so difficult to investigate, and what recent events reveal about traceability, surveillance, agricultural water, and prevention. Drawing on decades of experience in industry and government, he separates fact from speculation and shares practical insights into how science, leadership, and collaboration can help prevent future outbreaks and strengthen our food safety system. The Smarter Food Safety Podcast is sponsored by Ecolab, a trusted partner throughout my career. They’re dedicated to protecting what’s vital, by advancing food safety, ensuring clean and safe environments, and enhancing water quality around the world.

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  Episode #12

  Breaking News, Broken Trust: The Media's Role in Food Safety (Inside the Beltway Perspective)

  Jul 22, 202635 minS1

  When a food safety crisis unfolds, the media often becomes the public's first source of information, shaping perception, trust, and action. In this episode of Smarter Food Safety, I sit down with Marcia Brown, Food & Agriculture Reporter at POLITICO, to explore the media's evolving role in food safety. From outbreak coverage and policy debates to misinformation, declining public trust, and the importance of transparency, we discuss how journalists decide what makes news, why industry and government should engage with reporters, and how stronger relationships between media and food safety professionals can help ensure the public receives timely, accurate, and trustworthy information. The Smarter Food Safety Podcast is sponsored by Ecolab, a trusted partner throughout my career. They’re dedicated to protecting what’s vital, by advancing food safety, ensuring clean and safe environments, and enhancing water quality around the world.

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  Episode #11

  The Return of Screwworm - Is the US Food System Ready?

  Jul 8, 202631 minS1

  The return of New World Screwworm has raised important questions about the resilience of the U.S. food system. In this episode of the Smarter Food Safety podcast, Dr. Mindy Brashears, U.S. Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA, returns to discuss what recent Screwworm cases mean for food safety professionals. Although not a traditional food safety issue, the parasite highlights the critical connections between animal health, food security, surveillance, biosecurity, and national preparedness. Dr. Brashears explains how USDA is responding, the science behind sterile fly technology, and why protecting America's food supply requires a One Health approach that extends far beyond foodborne pathogens. The Smarter Food Safety Podcast is sponsored by Ecolab, a trusted partner throughout my career. They’re dedicated to protecting what’s vital, by advancing food safety, ensuring clean and safe environments, and enhancing water quality around the world.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #10

  Breaking News, Broken Trust: The Media's Role in Food Safety (Mainstream Media Perspective)

  Jul 1, 202644 minS1

  When a food safety crisis unfolds, journalists help shape how the public understands risk, responsibility, and trust. Over the next two episodes of the Smarter Food Safety podcast, in a two-part series, Frank Yiannas sits down with two different reporters, one representing mainstream media and another reporter from inside the beltway for two different perspectives. In part one, Frank is joined by Brenda Goodman, Senior Health News Writer at CNN, to explore how food safety stories become national news. They discuss what makes a recall newsworthy, the challenges of reporting accurately in an era of misinformation, the importance of local public health and investigative journalism, and why food safety professionals should engage with reporters before a crisis occurs. It's a timely conversation about transparency, communication, and strengthening public trust through responsible journalism. The Smarter Food Safety Podcast is sponsored by Ecolab, a trusted partner throughout my career. They’re dedicated to protecting what’s vital, by advancing food safety, ensuring clean and safe environments, and enhancing water quality around the world.

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