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

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 food safety systems.He also served as Agriculture Appropriations Associate in the office of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, where he managed and coordinated activities involving key legislative initiatives for food and nutrition issues.Prior to joining CR, Brian most recently served as Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, and he served in the same senior position at Arent Fox LLP. He serves as a part-time lecturer at Northeastern University in the College of Professional Studies."Guest Quote: “You will recall at the time, there were some very high profile outbreaks in the mid to late 2000s, right? You had the peanut butter, you had a number of fresh produce outbreaks with spinach, romaine lettuce, et cetera. And so everyone recognized that there was this need to come together and work together to push for [a solution]” - Brian RonholmTime Stamps:* (00:00) Intro * (00:33) Brian's career journey* (02:10) Understanding Consumer Reports and food advocacy* (04:45) Consumer requests and advocacy needs * (06:54) Consumer thoughts on food supply* (08:52) Key drivers of consumer expectations in the food industry* (13:56) Brian's reflections on the FSMA era* (16:36) Brian's experience working at FSIS* (20:44) Challenges in public-private partnerships in food regulation * (27:19) Producer and consumer responsibilities towards zeroism* (30:57) Navigating food industry incentives and sustainability solutions* (34:50) How to anticipate new threats in food safety and supply chains* (37:58) ​​Advice on proactive strategies for future food defense* (42:43) Winging it Today's episode is brought to you by Ancera, the company that gives poultry companies a birds eye view into their operations. Find out how Ancera is replacing opinions with objectivity at www.ancera.com.Links:Follow Brian on LinkedinVisit Consumer Reports: Food AdvocacyFollow Ancera on LinkedinVisit Ancera.com