How Do We Make Our Food Supply Safer?

Leading food safety experts weigh in.

By EatingWell Editors

We asked nine food safety experts—from professors to chefs to food inspectors—how they think we can improve food safety. Here are their ideas for a safer food future.

What is the single most important thing that can be done to improve food safety in the United States?

Ming Tsai

Ming Tsai


It’s tried and true for a reason: wash your hands. And, in any language, say the ABC’s twice while you’re doing it. Also, when you leave a bathroom, use a paper towel to turn the handle, and use your foot to keep the door open while you throw the towel away.

Cathy Donnelly

Catherine Donnelly, Ph.D.


We can revamp regulations and production practices in the meat and poultry industry. The numerous recent recalls and outbreaks prove that as our farms grow larger their operation becomes more unsafe. The dangers posed by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), agricultural facilities that house and feed a large number of animals in a confined area, are many: animals in these operations harbor antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and runoff from these facilities has been implicated as a source of contamination in produce outbreaks. With regard to the environment, we have yet to define regulations that look at CAFOs’ handling of waste and runoff, and the long-term environmental impact when the “farms” cease to operate.

Scott Donnelly

Scott Donnelly, Ph.D.


We need to hold all producers and manufacturers to Safe Quality Foods (SQF) certification standards. SQF certification is an HAACP-based (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) system that manages food safety risk instead of reacting to it, essentially foreseeing and taking steps to prevent future problems.

Linda Kender

Linda Kender


Education! There are numerous websites (even YouTube) and informational brochures, such as Fight Bac, that are specific on the topic of food safety. Clueing in the average consumer may be as simple as teaming up with your local grocer to display a series of food safety messages on the flat-screen televisions at the prepared food and deli counters.

Bill Marler

Bill Marler



Marion Nestle

Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H.



Doug Powell

Douglas Powell, Ph.D.



Donna Rosenbaum

Donna Rosenbaum


Food safety in the United States cannot be improved without understanding exactly what is making people sick. Only 4 to 6 percent of those who fall ill from foodborne pathogens discover what caused their illness. The government must increase funding to improve surveillance and diagnosis of foodborne disease. Consumers must seek medical care and demand answers and lab culture tests when they suspect foodborne illness. S.T.O.P. supports victims suffering long-term consequences with no idea what made them ill, no recourse and no accountability.

Rich Vergili

Richard Vergili

