Food Protection Trends - November/December 2022 - 561

BEYOND the BIO
" The move to Kroger was great, " Prince said. " I
had some wonderful opportunities and fantastic
partners through the years, but what I leaned into
the most was their 'consumer-first philosophy.'
They placed such a focus on doing what was best
for the consumer, no matter what line or product
it was. That has left a lasting impression on me and
became my motivation. "
One of Prince's defining career moments (in a
catalog of many) came when he identified a need
for Kroger's senior management to participate in
a food safety training. That request was approved
in a few hours and I had to develop the course
for all officers of the company. In his own words,
Prince said that training " planted the seed for
food safety culture. "
" This training curriculum established a culture
of food safety came from the top (leadership)
down and into the company, " Prince said. " From
there, many more food safety training programs
were created. The CEO was so moved with our
food safety training programs that he provided
them to the trade associations for further use by
the retail industry. I believe the Kroger CEO is
the only certified food safety manager in the food
industry. "
USING THE PAST TO INFORM THE
FUTURE
A reoccurring part of Prince's job was issues management
related to thousands of food safety recalls
during the course of his career. Regardless of the
scope of the recall, Prince understood the driving
force of consumer safety and the need to handle
the information with accuracy, speed and applied
knowledge in the interest of the customer first.
" As a visionarian I used each incident as a
learning opportunity to enhance future food safety
practices, " Prince said. " For instance, there
was a massive incident with a Chicago-area dairy
production facility. I saw it as an opportunity to
take some innovative work we were doing with
technology in Kroger's dairy production sites and
responded to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
(FDA) request of training all their milk
inspectors with a fully immersive, hands-on
training where they got hands-on training for
themselves. This was not something that was
done at the time, but my bosses supported me
and it turned out to be a phenomenal event in
enhancing the safety of the nation's milk supply. "
Following a Listeria issue in ice cream, Prince
worked with the FDA and a third-party association
to develop a two-day training program
that was then taken around the country to train
other inspectors. A similar training program was
developed in recent times when a Salmonella
problem was identified with peanut butter for
the peanut industry.
Prince was once again called to the decisionmaking
table in 2020 at the beginning of the
COVID-19 global pandemic. At a time when
companies were scrambling to adjust to nearly
all shifts in the environment, Prince's experience
working through the bird flu in 2002 and 2003
was essential.
" In 2002, I worked with the food sector and
took part on the Governor's task force for the State
of Ohio where we set the definition of an essential
worker, " Prince said. " Really, it's uncanny what we
set forth at that time and then what we needed to
do most recently with COVID. In 2002, we didn't
know how widespread or to what extent we would
need to scale emergency operations for the bird flu.
We planned out mass applications of vaccines, how
grocery stores (like Kroger) could store and stock up
products for the public, should a pandemic strike. It
was knowing what basic foods we needed, exploring
technology around touchless payments or going
cashless. I recall writing a memo in 2002 about the
importance of having sanitizing wipes at the front
of the store for consumers to wipe down handles on
shopping carts. That was something we implemented
- and kept going - for almost 20 years. "
LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD
Prince has noticed that every 20 years, major
food issues, such as the recent infant formula
crisis, plague the industry. Without seasoned
experts at the helm, food safety professionals start
from square one.
" When we have these outbreaks and food crises,
the industry gears up to solve them and usually
does for the time being, " Prince said. " But in
20 years, when we see a very similar problem,
those same professionals will have left the field or
retired. We have to be able to look back to look forward.
I love working with young people and those
new to the profession to share the history of what
we've gone through in the retail food industry, how
problems develop and what we can learn for the
next round. "
Although his days on the farm may have been
many years ago, Prince sees agriculture - particularly
the Future Farmers of America (FFA) - as
the next generation of food safety professionals.
He has a goal to work directly with the organization
to develop programming that gets young
people thinking about careers within the food
safety post high school.
Prince is a regular invited speaker, guest lecturer
and presenter worldwide. Since his retirement
from Kroger in 2007, he founded SAGE Food
Safety Consultants, LLC, which specializes in
working with the food industry for program review
and compliance. Prince said typical work includes
helping with recalls, writing recall programs,
reviewing operational and risk plans and training
those responsible for food safety programs within
their organization.
" I'm in the autumn of my career, but it doesn't
change that every day I'm looking at the news and
trade publications for learning and to see what's
changing in the world. Every single day, there are
new things affecting the business of food safety.
So each day, that's a new opportunity and I believe
I can still make a difference in helping others
understand the importance of those changes by
giving back the knowledge I have gained through
all the people I have worked with over the years. "
Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY.
A: I'm married with three sons and three grandchildren, hosted three foreign exchange
students and a homeless boy. My children and their families all live in Indianapolis
and I'm still trying to find time to move there! When I'm not working or traveling, I
like photography as a hobby. In fact, as my children were growing up, I was the team
photographer in capturing action shots of every team member for their proof of childhood
memories.
Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ATTENDING IAFP ANNUAL MEETINGS?
A: 54 years! IAFP is an extended family and so interconnected with my work.
Q: WHAT'S BEEN A SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE WITH IAFP FOR YOU?
A: I was part of the first $1 million raised through the IAFP Foundation. I felt it was important
to promote food safety careers to young people and there are so many opportunities within
research, regulatory agencies, food production facilities, producers with a rewarding career
in food safety in fulfilling consumer expectations.
Q: WHAT ARE SOME UPCOMING CLASSES OR TRAININGS YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO?
A: One of the classes I've taught before and will be teaching again at Iowa State University
focuses on food safety for senior citizens. As people get older, they downsize and are no
longer feeding a family or have a need for a lot of leftovers. The ways they buy, prepare and
store food need to change. There is a need to focus on food safety for this growing population.
November/December Food Protection Trends 561

Food Protection Trends - November/December 2022

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