Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole

What happens when the technology we depend on to produce, transport, and protect our food becomes the very thing that puts it at risk?This week on Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler welcome Kristin King, cybersecurity and risk management expert, host of the Bytes and Bytes podcast, and author of Securing What Feeds Us: Cybersecurity in Food and Agriculture.With 27 years of experience in cybersecurity, operational technology, and critical infrastructure, Kristen has spent much of her career asking questions that too many organizations would rather avoid. And she's not particularly interested in sugarcoating the answers.From cyberattacks that disrupt food production to the vulnerabilities hidden inside our increasingly connected supply chains, Kristen explains why cybersecurity and food safety have far more in common than most people realize.But this conversation goes well beyond hackers and technology. We talk about the danger of assuming a system is secure simply because it hasn't failed yet, the false confidence that comes with certifications and digital traceability, and why organizational culture matters just as much as the technology itself.We also discuss Kristin's new book, why she wrote it, and her determination to make a complicated and often intimidating subject understandable to anyone who has a stake in our food system. Which, when you think about it, is all of us.Along the way, there's plenty of laughter, a few well-earned frustrations, some unexpected shark analogies, and a reminder that sometimes being the A**Hole in the room simply means being the person willing to ask the uncomfortable questions.Learn more about Kristin's work:Click here to go to Bites and Bytes podcastClick here to purchase Securing What Feeds Us: Cybersecurity in Food and AgricultureBecause protecting our food supply isn't just about what happens in the field, the factory, or the kitchen anymore. It's also about what happens behind the screen.

Aloha from Hawaii!We took a vacation, but apparently we can’t stop talking about food.This episode was recorded outside on Oahu: with birds, water, and a rooster who got involved in the conversation.We talk about our time on Maui and Oahu, visiting Lahaina, the realities of getting food to a series of islands in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaiian culture and storytelling, and what happens to a food system when power, transportation or infrastructure is disrupted.Somehow we also get into Polynesian navigation, submarines (because of course we did), quality assurance, food recalls, expensive groceries and our decision to enjoy some Panda Express while in Hawaii.We also want to remind everyone that today (September 18, 2026) is Global Glove Safety Day.  Global Glove Safety Day is led by Eagle Protect in partnership with food safety icon Dr. Darin Detwiler.It’s a bit of a wandering conversation. But honestly, it felt appropriate for a travel episode.Aloha from Episode 18.Sponsored by Eagle Protect, the only glove company that third-party tests its gloves because “trust us” isn’t a food safety strategy. Learn more at www.eagleprotect.com and Safeguard What Matters. 

Data matters. Regulations matter. Technology matters. But sometimes the most useful thing you can hear is another person saying, Here’s what we tried. Here’s what went wrong. Here’s what surprised us. And here’s what we learned.In Episode 17, Darin and Gennette sit down with Rick Biros, President of Food Safety Tech and Conference Director of the Food Safety Consortium Conference & Expo, for a conversation about how the industry and the way people learn from one another within it is evolving.Rick shares why the 15th Food Safety Consortium is making more room for those conversations. We talk about the shift from compliance-driven food safety toward technology, digital transformation, and a question that food safety professionals increasingly need to answer: How do we communicate the value of food safety to the C-suite?And, because this is still Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole, we eventually get to the inevitable question: What happens when you know enough about food safety that you can’t not notice things?The Food Safety Consortium Conference & Expo takes place October 21–23 in Arlington, Virginia.And yes the best part of the conference is that Gennette is getting on stage this year for the very first time!Register for the conference by going to https://foodsafetyconsortium.org/Listen to Darin and Gennette talk about Storytelling at the conference on Don't Eat Poop.Sponsored by Eagle Protect, the only glove company that third-party tests its gloves because “trust us” isn’t a food safety strategy. Learn more at www.eagleprotect.com and Safeguard What Matters.

This week, we traded the studio for a campsite in Kings Canyon National Park complete with a crackling fire, no Wi-Fi, and a bear that got a little closer to the tent than Gennette would have preferred. Apparently, you can take the Food Safety A**Hole out of the studio, but you can’t take food safety out of the conversation.From bear-proof food lockers and questionable river water to recalls, sprouts, and a potluck where the other guests became food safety a**holes themselves, this episode wanders through what happens when awareness moves beyond the experts and into everyday life.Pull up a camp chair. We’ve got marshmallows. The bear, thankfully, has moved on.

Though the original plan was to wait until Darin and Gennette returned from IAFP in New Orleans before releasing another episode, the chaotic and fast-moving Cyclospora outbreak made that impossible. As new and conflicting information seemed to emerge by the hour, Darin realized there was an opportunity to take the conversation in a direction beyond the what and how. The episode begins with a candid discussion of the unfolding Cyclospora outbreak and the confusion surrounding recalls, social media speculation, shifting public health information, consumer trust, and what happens when uncertainty becomes the story itself. Darin and Gennette examine how misinformation spreads, why consumers struggle to know whom to trust, and what leaders can learn from moments when facts are still evolving.In the second half of the episode, they're joined by their coach and friend, celebrity mindset coach Laura St. John, whose work has influenced both of their personal and professional lives for nearly four years. Together, they explore an unexpected but powerful connection between mindset and food safety leadership. Rather than focusing solely on reacting to crises, they discuss how leaders can develop the mental habits, clarity, and decision-making tools needed to prepare for uncertainty before it happens. The conversation bridges food safety, leadership, psychology, and systems thinking to show how narrowing The Certainty Gap isn't just about gathering more information, it's about learning how to think more effectively when certainty is impossible.Whether you're following the latest outbreak news, work in the food industry, lead a team, or simply want better tools for making decisions in uncertain situations, this episode offers a fresh perspective on one of the most important (and most overlooked) skills of modern leadership.To learn more about Laura St.John and her mindset classes go to Strong Confident Living at https://www.strongconfidentliving.comFor up to date information on the Cyclospora outbreak go to the Marler Blog at https://www.marlerblog.com/Sponsored by Eagle Protect, the only glove company that third-party tests its gloves because “trust us” isn’t a food safety strategy. Learn more at www.eagleprotect.com and Safeguard What Matters.Don't forget to watch Darin's Ted Talk at https://youtu.be/rEIWcW__Mb8