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# Publisher’s Platform: Giving credit when, where it’s due
- URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/04/publishers-platform-credit-where-its-due/
- Published: 2018-04-05T01:21:08.000Z
- Updated: 2021-04-08T17:20:14.000Z
- Author: Bill Marler
- Tags: Opinion & Contributed Articles, Bill Marler, Frank Yiannas, opinion, Wal-Mart, Walmart, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 10:47

![](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2018/04/Marlar-and-Yiannas-April-2018.jpg)

Frank Yiannas, left, with Bill Marler.

Over the past 20-plus years I have given countless talks to food industry groups on the moral and business reasons to “not poison your customers.” However, it has only been a handful of companies that have allowed me behind the curtain (at no charge) to talk directly, candidly and forcefully about the role of litigation as a agent of change in our food system. Today, I had the honor to talk with the leaders at Walmart whose jobs it is to protect their customers around the world from the ravages of 

E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria

 and Hepatitis A.

A commitment to a culture dedicated to safe food lessens the chances of a food poisoning event, litigation and brand damage – all under the watchful gaze of Mr. Walton.

**Editor’s note:* Frank Yiannas is a microbiologist and vice president of food Safety at Walmart. Yiannas is the past president of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) and recipient of the 2007 NSF Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Food Safety. Yiannas is the author of two books: “Food Safety=Behavior” published in 2015 and “Food Safety Culture” published 2008\. He is also an adjunct professor in the Online Master of Science in Food Safety Program at Michigan State University.*