How AI Is Transforming Food Safety

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Omnivore

Episode Description

In a recent cover story, Food Technology explored how artificial intelligence is helping food companies move from reacting to contamination events to predicting risk earlier—while raising urgent questions about validation, accountability, and human oversight. In this episode, we’re continuing that conversation with three of the experts featured in the story—Willette Crawford, Matt Henderson, and Jeff Varcoe—to dig deeper into where AI is already delivering value, where the hype exceeds the science, and why humans still hold the line.

Plus: This episode of Omnivore is brought to you by IFT FIRST – Food Improved by Research, Science, and Technology. Join us July 12–15, 2026, at McCormick Place in Chicago. Learn more at ift.org.

Featured Guests

Willette Crawford Principal Consultant

Willette Crawford, PhD, MPH, PCQI, PhD, MPH, is principal consultant and owner of Katalyst Consulting and a food safety expert who helped write the FSMA regulations during her tenure at FDA, among her many other accomplishments in food protection.
Matt Henderson Land O’Frost

Matt Henderson, MS, is vice president of technical services at Land O’Frost, where for over 20 years, he’s been dedicated to upholding the highest standards of food safety, quality, and operational excellence for one of the nation’s leading brands of pre-sliced deli meats and specialty meat products.
Jeff Varcoe The JM Smucker Co.

Jeffrey Varcoe, PhD, is SVP, Science and Technical Excellence at The JM Smucker Co. In this role, he ensures operational excellence across all technical disciplines that underpin product quality, compliance, and innovation. Varcoe has served as vice president of quality assurance and food safety since 2023 and brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in the food industry across the areas of quality assurance, research and development, and operations.

Omnivore

IFT’s Omnivore and Omnivore Presents: SciDish podcasts spark lively, thought-provoking conversations with the science, business, and regulatory leaders shaping the future of food. Each episode delivers sharp analysis, practical insights, and bold ideas designed to challenge assumptions, ignite innovation, and energize your work across the global food system.

Subscribe All Omnivore

Inside AI’s Role in Food Safety

Read the in-depth article on how AI is shifting food safety from detection to prediction, then explore expert interviews with insights from Jeff Varcoe, Hal King, Willette Crawford, Bill Marler, and others.

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