Posts By: Joelle Mosso
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Cyclospora: Blind by Choice. This is the Cost of Dismantling Food Safety Surveillance
There’s something new these days in food safety. Or, more accurately, something old. We have returned to a time when we were challenged to know what was happening in food safety and public health since the tools were not available to us. There was no PCR. There was no Whole Genome Sequencing. We didn’t know about some of the pathogens that we now freely discuss – not because they…
The Barrier Is Not Always Data Results. Sometimes It Is Decision Culture
A major barrier to learning from data is not always the absence of evidence. Sometimes the learning is clear, but the culture is not ready to accept it. For academics, subject matter experts and industry groups that are advising industry, developing best practices or recommending how learnings should be applied, this raises a deeper responsibility. The legal concept of duty of…
Eating the Food Safety Elephant One Bite at a Time.
In my last article, I wrote about the food safety elephant in the room – that somewhere along the way, we as food safety and risk managers “…became more comfortable discussing the dangers of finding problems than the dangers of not finding them”. When the conversation shifts from using science to solve the problem, to conversations on how that same data and learning is a risk…
The Food Safety Elephant in the Room.
I am exhausted by the same old food safety data conversation – it’s far past time for a new one. First off, if you know me, I focus a lot on food safety data. The why behind why we are doing something in food safety has never been secondary to me, it’s always been at the forefront. So, why does this opening today sound like I am giving up? Because…
Proposed USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) Closure Raises Concern for Fresh Produce Research
Western Growers members are encouraged to support continued operation of the United States Department of Agriculture Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) and the Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory (EMFSL) located there. Proposed USDA closure of the facility, and the suggested research relocation plans, threaten real-world fresh produce research supporting food safety,…
It’s time we talk about the black box.
The food industry often points to the aviation model when talking about how we can work to improve food safety. Specifically, many articles refer to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) as the gold standard for data sharing, process improvement and public safety confidence. And on the surface, it works and is a wonderful parallel for what we need…
Vegetated Practices Field Day: Water Quality and Ag Order 4.0 Compliance (May 27)
Join us for a day focusing on vegetated water treatment. We will begin with a visit to a vegetated ditch site at Huntington Farms in Soledad, CA. Michael Cahn, the Irrigation Advisor from UC Cooperative Extension, and Mark Mason, manager of Huntington Farms, will discuss how they constructed this system and how to implement one on your own land. The site visit will be followed by discussions…
Testing to Innovate: Redefining Food Safety Data’s Role
For 100 years, Western Growers has stood alongside its members, supporting the advancement of agriculture through leadership and innovation. From navigating historic challenges to embracing modern solutions, that legacy continues today through initiatives like GreenLink®, a platform that redefines how food safety data supports public health and long-term industry viability. Western Growers…
What Leadership Needs to Know: Not All Food Safety Programs Reduce Risk
A common issue that comes up in food safety discussions, especially in boardrooms and C-suites, is how do we argue for better than compliance food safety? While it is true that not all food safety programs are compliant, many are, but the most critical piece is that while most programs will pass an audit for compliance, many won’t prevent an outbreak. Frequently in the food…
Join the Effort to Help Improve Food Safety in the Agricultural Ecosystem
The California Agricultural Neighbors (CAN) Scientific Engagement and Communication Work Group (Working Group #5) brings together growers, livestock operators, researchers, regulators and industry leaders to translate emerging science into practical food safety strategies for agricultural landscapes. The group will be focusing on applying findings from the California Longitudinal Study (CALS)…
Sustainable Pest Management and Sustainable Food Safety Management
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) defines Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) as a holistic, whole-system approach to managing pests in agricultural and other managed ecosystems and urban and rural communities that builds on the concept of integrated pest management (IPM) with broader consideration of human health and social equity, environmental protections and…
Wildlife, Pathogens, and the Produce Interface: What Science Is Actually Telling Us
For years, wildlife has been routinely listed in audit checklists and corrective action reports as a “potential contamination source.” What does the science tell us? A far more nuanced story. The growing body of research on fresh produce food safety and wildlife is proving to be a complicated and variable topic. How wildlife interacts with the fresh produce…
The Bridge Between Compliance and Continuous Improvement – Food Safety Data Must Look Different.
A few weeks back, I wrote an article about the value that food safety data should have in driving our operations. It can be found here and is titled Compliance to Impact – Making Continuous Improvement Count. It came with this nice-looking pyramid image that was posted on our social media accounts (thank you WGA Marketing). Since then, I have had a few conversations on the…
Compliance to Impact – Making Continuous Improvement Count
In food safety, continuous improvement is a critical element. It is explicitly called out in regulations and food safety schemes. It is at least as important as meeting baseline compliance requirements, and arguably more important. Compliance requirements are the universal minimum, a starting point that is applicable to all organizations and businesses. Continuous…
Digging into Details – EMPs in Fresh Produce Environments
In December 2025, there was a tragic shark attack in the Monterey Bay of California. An experienced open-water swimmer had a fatal interaction with a shark, leaving bystanders, friends and community traumatized. As someone who has been amazed by sharks my entire life, I think often about how these organisms have so eloquently evolved, fine-tuning function and necessity into every biological…
My Microbe Teachers – Lessons in Humanity from a Single Cell
‘Tis the season to think reflectively and plan for the new year. As I prepared myself to think about ushering in a new year and set of goals, projects and ambitions, I came upon an interesting pattern in what I think and talk about. If I am honest, I have been watching this gradual evolution for many years now. I have noticed a shift in how I speak and in how I answer questions about…
Connecting the Dots (or Nucleotides) on Microbial Sources
Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is a game-changer when it comes to food safety. With whole-genome sequencing, we can fundamentally shift how we approach detection, traceback, investigations into root cause, detection technology use/development, and microbial understanding of pathogenesis. In short, insight into the genetic code has ushered in a new era of science and understanding. When you pair…
Revisiting Environmental Monitoring with a Different Lens
One of my favorite types of testing programs is a well-designed environmental monitoring program. Why? It is generally the closest thing in our food safety plans that resembles a true surveillance program. EMPs are built around routinely monitoring our environments to see when and where risks may be increasing, where sanitation is failing and how traffic patterns in the facility may be spreading…
What is Food Safety Data Anyway?
I think a lot about food safety data. I doubt that surprises anyone who knows me, and especially those who have known me in the past few years. I talk about it constantly, almost obsessively. But here’s the twist - I don’t only think about food safety data. Shocking, I know. But many people have first encountered me not as a food safety geek, but as an entrepreneur and business leader, a…
The Food Safety Prisoner’s Dilemma
A scenario described in game theory is called the prisoner’s dilemma. Briefly, the prisoner’s dilemma involves two prisoners (A and B) who are being held independently for questioning. In the exercise, the potential outcomes are described based on each prisoner’s responses during interrogation, the options being to remain silent or confess. The tricky part is that the sentence for each…