Food Protection Trends - November/December 2023 - 515

JOHN H. SILLIKER LECTURE (continued)
AMIF research showed that 93 percent of human
nitrite intake came from fruits, vegetables and
human saliva, and that nitrite had health benefits.
But a handful of case control epidemiological
studies raised questions and inflamed concerns.
Once again, we turned to scientists, this time with
degrees in toxicology, pathology, and epidemiology.
After engaging in a very detailed, public process,
nitrite's safety was confirmed at the national and
state levels.
Three years after that, we learned an even more
important lesson: nature doesn't wait until you are
ready for your next challenge. On December 23,
2003, USDA announced that it had detected Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a single cow
in Washington state. Export markets for U.S. beef
closed rapidly. Although beef cuts posed no food
safety risk to consumers, the public and many
trading partners were unconvinced, especially after
the tragedy in Britain, where brain tissues known
to carry the BSE prion were commonly consumed.
Once again, we leaned into the issue with research,
discussion, and public reassurances rooted in
factual evidence and a long-term view.
A few years later in 2008, I assisted AMI's
member, Maple Leaf Foods, to navigate through a
tragic event where their products were linked with
a Listeria outbreak across Canada. After several
weeks working with the team in Toronto, Maple Leaf
asked me to join the company.
Taking on challenges and " being uncomfortable "
has been a theme in my career.
Appearing on CNN to talk about BSE wasn't
in my plan. Neither was managing a Six Sigma
organization at Maple Leaf Foods, or being
accountable for Manufacturing Operations,
Occupational Health and Safety, or Environmental
Sustainability portfolio. But I learned so many
lessons from each of these experiences that I apply
to my food safety work every day, and I came to
believe we grow when we are uncomfortable.
As I enter my fourth decade in the food safety
field and reflect on lessons I've learned from good
and bad situations, I believe strongly that three
practices are integral in building a world-class food
safety program: Thoughtful reflection, collaborative
execution, and strategic foresight.
In our high-stakes field, we're under pressure to
perform and deliver, but we must remember the
value of pausing to Reflect. In his groundbreaking
book of the same name, Simon Sinek argued that " It
Starts with Why. "
So WHY do we dedicate our careers to food
safety? Why do we care on a deeply personal
level? The easiest answer is because we don't
want people to get sick, but we must go deeper.
What are the short- and long-term consequences
of getting sick from food? We can understand this
best by engaging with victims, listening to their
stories, and reflecting. I've had the opportunity over
the years to spend time with constituents of STOP
Foodborne Illness, a non-profit organization that
supports families who have experienced foodborne
illness, and their stories have changed me. I believe
that acts of deep reflection around why we do what
we do are powerful motivators that can inspire and
empower food safety team members to act.
As a society, we embrace the saying " No regrets. "
I'm naturally a reflective person and the idea
of having " No regrets " may lead to unchecked
confidence in one's actions. Thought leader and
author Daniel Pink in his book, The Power of
Regret, builds a strong case that regret can be a
powerful tool.
" If we know what we truly regret, we know what
we truly value, " he says. He goes on to write,
" Regret is the quintessential upward counterfactual
- the ultimate 'If Only.' The source of its power,
scientists are discovering, is that it muddles the
conventional pain pleasure calculus. Its very
purpose is to make us feel worse - because by
making us feel worse today, regret helps us do
better tomorrow. "
At Maple Leaf Foods, we harness the power of
regret. We choose NOT to forget our tragic Listeria
outbreak involving our products that took 23 lives
in 2008. We use Regret to Drive Change, in both
technical processes and human behavior.
We found the likely physical root cause of that
contamination event: a slicer with a significant
harborage of the outbreak strain of Listeria. But
over time we fully realized that wasn't the only
contributing factor. After more study, it became clear
that human behavior - our actions to prevent the
bacterium from contaminating product - was really
the true root cause.
Complacency - a common human trait - is
something we fight relentlessly. Our efforts to
combat complacency weave our food safety
programs together.
November/December Food Protection Trends 515
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