Shawn Stevens is the founding member of Food Industry Counsel LLC, a law firm formed in 2014 to represent the food industry exclusively in regulatory and other matters involving food safety and quality. Contact Stevens at (920) 698-2561 or stevens@foodindustrycounsel.com, or visit his Web site, www.foodindustrycounsel.com.

Fight for Food Safety

Developing an effective Food Defense Program (FDP)

Defending against the unthinkable

Shawn K. Stevens

February 11, 2019

No Comments

FSIS encourages establishments to voluntarily adopt and implement a Food Defense Plan (FDP), and to conduct training and exercises to ensure preparedness.

Fight for Food Safety

Reviewing 2018's USDA recalls

Shawn K. Stevens

January 14, 2019

No Comments

At presstime in mid-December 2018, there had been 120 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recalls in 2018, collectively totaling approximately 25.3 million pounds of product.

Fight for Food Safety

Time to talk… Salmonella

Shawn K. Stevens

December 28, 2018

No Comments

As we look back at this year’s Thanksgiving, which is typically the time to talk turkey, yet another Salmonella outbreak made headlines. And this time, turkey was the source.

Fight for Food Safety

Salmonella outbreak: a harbinger of changes?

Shawn K. Stevens

November 8, 2018

No Comments

An Arizona-based meat producer recently announced a recall of 6.9 million pounds of various raw, non-intact beef products because of possible contamination with Salmonella Newport — by far the largest beef recall in recent history, and the largest for Salmonella in beef.

Fight for Food Safety

R-CALF seeks to reinstate country-of-origin labeling requirements in beef products

'Beef' continues over COOL

Shawn K. Stevens

October 15, 2018

No Comments

The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF) hopes to convince President Donald Trump to sign an executive order reinstating mandatory COOL labeling for beef products.

Fight for Food Safety

Food-safety investments may be paying off

Shawn K. Stevens

September 20, 2018

No Comments

Despite the well-known problems this year, a careful analysis of the data reveals that there is much for the meat industry to be proud of.

Fight for Food Safety

Will 'clean meat' clean the table?

Shawn K. Stevens

August 22, 2018

No Comments

Apparently, organic, non-GMO, hormone-free, free-range, grass-fed and antibiotic-free meat is no longer good enough. Cultured meat, also referred to as "clean meat" or lab-grown meat, is increasingly garnering more attention.

Fight for Food Safety

Will your next recall insurance  claim be denied?

Shawn K. Stevens

July 20, 2018

No Comments

Let's face it: Virtually all food manufacturers will have a recall. Over the course of the last decade, a handful of food companies have experienced many recalls, and some of the largest food product manufacturers in the world have experienced dozens.

Fight for Food Safety

Are you looking over both shoulders?

Shawn K. Stevens

June 19, 2018

No Comments

The smart processors spend considerable time looking over one shoulder to ensure their suppliers follow the best dressing practices and use the latest interventions to keep dangerous pathogens at bay.

Fight for Food Safety

California resolution seeks to add "processed meat" to Proposition 65

No California Love for processed meats

Shawn K. Stevens

May 24, 2018

No Comments

If the resolution is passed, the California agency responsible for overseeing Proposition 65 (the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment) would be urged to add "processed meat" to the Proposition 65 list of chemicals, thereby requiring processed meat to carry warnings.

How to Respond to Foodborne Illness Investigations and the Data Released on Them

The CDC's foodborne illness estimates are a fascinating puzzle of information that many processors may not understand or even utilize properly. Editorial Board member Andrew Lorenz breaks it down for processors to better understand how it might affect their business in 2019, and then shares how to respond to foodborne illness investigations.

Food Safety Summit

At the 20th Annual Food Safety Summit we will address the importance of food safety throughout the supply chain and how each community that makes up the ecosystem is connected. It is vital to understand not only your roles and responsibilities but also those in the rest of the process. With case studies, educational sessions, peer-to-peer conversations, and new technologies, we will provide a wide range of applicable, real world solutions to identified needs and situations for the food community.

The National Provisioner

February 2019

Check out the February 2019 issue of The National Provisioner, featuring our cover story on Smithfield Foods' advances towards reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, the 2019 Seafood Report, and much more.

View More Subscribe

Independent Processor

February 2019

The February 2019 issue of Independent Processor features our cover story on ProPortion Foods, a look at how bacon has become a food trend with staying power, and much more.

View More Subscribe

ARTICLES