Photo of Darin Detwiler

Darin Detwiler, founder and president of Detwiler Consulting Group, LLC, is the director of the MS in Regulatory Affairs of Food and Food Industry and Professor of Food Policy at Northeastern University in Boston.  In addition to serving as the executive vice president for public health at the International Food Authenticity Assurance Organization, Detwiler serves on numerous committees and advisory panels related to food science, nutrition, fraud, and policy. He is a sought-after speaker on key issues in food policy at corporate and regulatory training events, as well as national and international events. Detwiler holds a doctorate of Law and Policy.

The recent decision to eliminate the USDA’s National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and their National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) should alarm every American. This isn’t just about disbanding committees. It’s a clear signal that food safety — at the federal level —

Continue Reading Loss of USDA food safety committees is a loss for everyone in America

— OPINION —

I remember exactly where I was on Feb. 10, 1993. I was in the audience of President Bill Clinton’s nationally televised town hall from the studios of WXYZ-TV in Detroit. He fielded questions from the studio audience as well as studio audiences in Miami and Seattle, where

Continue Reading A legacy of loss and leadership: What America’s presidents teach us about food safety

This year’s resurgence of Listeria outbreaks is not just a food safety failure; it is a costly indictment of systemic leadership shortcomings. Despite advances in science, education, and policy, Listeria continues to thrive in environments where proactive measures have been neglected. For leaders in the food industry, this should be

Continue Reading Listeria doesn’t happen overnight; this year’s outbreaks are a wake up call

— OPINION —

Boar’s Head’s deadly Listeria outbreak serves as a stark reminder that the food safety issues Upton Sinclair exposed over a century ago in “The Jungle” still persist. The impact of Sinclair’s work, which revealed the hidden dangers of food production, resonates today as modern food safety lapses

Continue Reading Lessons lost

— OPINION —

In the landscape of food safety, the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) represents a monumental shift towards preventing contamination rather than merely responding to it. A new element of FSMA is the Food Traceability Final Rule (FSMA 204), which is designed to enhance the ability to

Continue Reading Undermining food safety: The threat of legislative rollbacks on FSMA 204