Ep. 193 – The Global Food Safety Center with Guangtao, Food Safety Expert at Mars Global Food Safety Center

When you think of Mars, you might think of chocolate or pet food but have you ever thought about the important role Mars has on Food Safety? In fact, Mars recently launched a brand new, state of the art global food safety center right in the heart of China. Within this center, Mars employs top scientists to solve the world’s pressing food safety solution innovations including research on mycotoxins, pathogens and traceability Take a look at not only the Global Food Safety Center’s amazing technology, but also their amazing scientist and learn how Guangtao Zhang got into food, by taking the skills he learned in the pharmaceutical industry and applying it to food safety innovation. Sponsor People have been saying My Food Job Rocks is a great food business podcast. If you’re a food entrepreneur or want to become one, I highly suggest doing your research. Luckily, my friend Rachel Zemser has the perfect resource for you. She has a book called the Food Business Toolkit that will help you understand everything about starting a food business from formulation to regulation. Use the code MYFOODJOBROCKS at the checkout for 10% off not only the book, but it also applies to an hour of consulting. As someone who’s started their own food business, acquiring knowledge is super important. You can find the book here: https://alacarteconnections.com/shop/ Money will come and go, but you’ll always run out of time so it’s very important to get the knowledge necessary to move forward. Show Notes Mars’ global food safety center located in China We feel that China is so central to the world, we had to put it in there Mars sells to China: M and M’s, Snickers, Pet food, Dove Chocolate (dominant chocolate) Spicy Snicker’s Bar Mint flavored snicker’s bar What is the Global Food Safety Center?: Located in Bejing, 3000 sq m facility. Ampitheater that can host trainings and conferences. 30 people analytical BSL-2+ Very powerful analytical capabilities We look into three important areas in food safety research Mycotoxins Microbial Risk Management – Salmonella, E.coli Food Integrity – relatively new, knowns and unknowns in food contamination Also: Soft Tracking and Investigation Ultimately our goal is to prevent microbial incident How to reach Mars: marsGFSC.com How did you get int food safety: I started as a chemistry major focusing on inorganic materials. My academic background gave me a huge amount of technical knowledge. Postdoc in Cornell doing pharmaceuticals How do you find drugs?: It’s a very long process. Screening, until you get a hit. Then you do medicinal chemistry by changing the molecule. It can take decades and a lot of money to create a drug. What was your first job at Mars?: I was always in the food safety center. I started out in the analytical lab and now I’m the head of research in food safety Whole Genome Sequencing IAFP conference What is the biggest food safety problem?: Pathogens What is a good piece of advice: If you’re looking for a purposeful, multi disciplined job, this is it. marsgsfc.com or mars.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices