Dive Brief:
- Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams has appointed Cindy Decker as the company's food safety director following a listeria outbreak last year. This led to a production shutdown and twice temporarily closed stores. The outbreak didn't cause any illnesses, but Jeni's has taken action to remedy safety protocols for production.
- Decker's qualifications include a Ph.D. in microbiology and more than 20 years of experience working with food safety and quality monitoring programs, Jeni's said in a statement.
- The appointment is part of Jeni's "enhanced food safety program" which "includes environmental, process, and product testing to ensure the complete safety of our ice creams," Jeni's CEO John Lowe said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Jeni's strategy here is both proactive and reactive. Appointing a leader with experience demonstrates dedication to improving food safety to the public (reactive), and also brings in the expertise needed to revamp food safety protocols that prevent future recalls (proactive). An outsider's perspective can spot problem areas and suggest opportunities for improvement.
By simply adding on to the responsibilities of others in management rather than hiring a dedicated food safety director, companies may overlook the underlying cause of the outbreak because management is already entrenched in past production protocols.
Another high-profile recall in 2008 led to a similar company strategy at Maple Leaf Foods following a listeria outbreak linked to cold cuts. The company appointed its first food safety director during the aftermath, among other changes, and Maple Leaf Foods made a relatively swift recovery. By taking the initiative to hire a food safety director, whose sole job it is to revamp the company's safety protocols, that investment could also lead to a faster turnaround for Jeni's.