Food Safety Group

Chair: Shaun Kokott

Vice-Chair: Bárbara Serra

Events: Clare Menezes

Secretary:  Alison Friel

Communications: Vacant

Other: Karen Constable, Ben Dodridge, John Globe, Karin Goodburn, Sarah Howarth, Jeminat Efunkunle, Andy Kerridge, Lucy Knox, Peter Littleton, Jude Mason, Justine Norris, Susan Smith

Ben Dodridge FIFST is the Category Technical Manager at Tesco looking after Prepared Foods. Ben started his career at Bakkavor and worked in various factory technical roles. Ben joined Tesco in 2012 as a Technical Manager in chilled foods. He has held overall category technical responsibility for BWS, Impulse, Bakery & Dairy and Prepared Foods.

Jeminat Efunkunle has over 5 years’ experience in the fast moving consumer goods sector. She started in beverages (bottling) before switching to food manufacturing (bakery, cereals, flour production). She is qualified in food safety (level 2) and has various certifications in food allergy, food hygiene, nutrition in health and disease etc. Jeminat is currently mastering Food Science and Biotechnology and is also an IFST Sudent Representative at Teeside University.

Alison Friel FIFST has 25 years of experience in the food industry, she started with a manufacturing background in various technical roles before working in own-label product management for leading foodservice and retailers in the UK. Since 2017, Alison has been working in the Certification Body sector and currently leads the consulting, training and technical team for NSF.

John Globe FIFST has been in and around the food industry his entire working life. Direct work experience has been mostly quality management of low-risk food, preceded by short periods in other functions followed by 20 years as a Lead Auditor with certification body LRQA – ISO 9001 in food and other industry sectors, BRC (early versions), ISO 22000, FSSC 22000 and other standards/schemes. He became an independent auditor/consultant 10 years ago when the majority of the work was for LRQA. He is semi-retired and is now mostly involved with small brewery audits (SIBA FSQ scheme) and ISO 9001 consultancy for one non-food client.

Karin Goodburn CSci FIFST specialises in chilled food science, microbiology, technology, sustainability, educational outreach and regulatory affairs, from farm to fork. Director-General of the Chilled Food Association (CFA), Chair of the Food & Biocides Industry Group, and a consultant advising government and industry on policy, safety and supply chain issues, as well as being an EHO trainer, she is a member of a range of boards and committees including at the UN FAO/WHO and GFSI.

Sarah Howarth CSci FIFST is a food industry professional with more than 30 years’ experience in technical Retail and Food Manufacturing roles. Her experience spans across the UK and Europe working for a range of food businesses. Prior to establishing Howarth Food Safety Ltd, Sarah was Head of Cargill Europe Grains and Oilseeds Product Assurance Team based in Rotterdam. Her consultancy focuses on food safety certification, labelling compliance and training.

Andy Kerridge has over 35 years’ experience in food technology/quality and safety management, working in Europe, Middle East and Africa. His career started in the meat industry and continued in food service. In 2012 he set up Wyvern Food Solutions and has helped a wide variety of companies meet demands of quality, safety and consistency. Andy is also involved with the IFST Midlands Branch.

Lucy Knox FIFST has more than 35 years’ experience in the food industry, having enjoyed a varied career as a home economist, food writer and recipe developer. Passionate about food safety, she now works as a Food Safety and Menu Consultant, advising over 230 licensees on everything from HACCP to allergens, suppliers and menu engineering. Lucy is a Fellow of the RSPH and a Member of the CIEH.

Shaun Kokott has over 20 years’ experience in the food industry and has worked across the chilled, frozen and ambient sectors with retailers, food service and quick service restaurants. He has hands-on experience having worked in food production facilities and certification bodies. He holds a Food Technology Masters degree and is qualified as a Lead Auditor for both BRCGS and FSSC 22000.

Peter Littleton RFoodSP FIFST is Technical Director for Christeyns Food Hygiene Ltd. Peter works extensively with special interest groups, such as the Anaphylaxis Campaign, research organisations, universities and retailers as well as chairing the Processing, Operations and Preservation Member Interest Group at Campden BRI.

Jude Mason FIFST is a food industry professional with more than 25 years experience in technical and senior management roles within retail, manufacturing and certification bodies.  Jude runs her own business, Succour Limited, a consulting and technical service provider to the food industry.  Her key areas of expertise cover: private label programme development, consulting, training, food fraud, supplier auditing and supplier and product quality assurance.

Clare Menezes RFoodSP FIFST has worked in the food industry for 30 years. During that time she has held various senior technical roles across microbiology, food safety, quality assurance, supplier quality and regulatory compliance. She is an established Global Food Integrity Leader, who now runs her own consultancy business specialising in Supply Chain investigations and ground truthing 

Babara Serra has started her career as an Agronomist at Vitacress, Portugal. For the last 20 years she has been working, in several fresh produce companies, in Quality and Technical roles. She is a BRCGS Approved Trainer Partner and improving the knowledge of others in food safety compliance is her passion. She is currently the Head of Technical Compliance at SH Pratt Group Ltd, where she is aiming to continuously improve the food safety culture and enhance others understanding the implications of compliance by optimising systems.

Susan Smith has spent over 37 years in the food industry. Over 10 years in the meat industry and fully qualified butcher. 12 years working in High-risk FMCG, and airline catering. 27 years working with fresh produce whole head and processed. MSc Food Safety and Control, HND Food Science,  Production & Development, NEBOSH General Certificate. Currently employed as a Compliance Manager with multiple sites overseeing Food Safety (BRC & customer Audits), Health & Safety and Ethical & HR compliance.

Each SIG is run by a small committee of volunteer members, who meet both face-to-face and virtually. As part of the committee, members are actively involved in organising and attending meetings in relation to setting up activities, events and webinars across the year. Open our Events page to attend our upcoming events or access the Webinar Hub to watch previous webinar recordings.

Interview with Alison Friel - Director & Technical Account Manager

Interview with John Globe - Quality Manager 

Interview with Christa Maphosa - Food Technologist

Interview with Hayley Ward-Ivan - Food Safety & NFCU

Interview with Damian Hankin - Food Safety Culture

To celebrate World Food Safety Day 2020, which inspires actions to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contribute to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access and sustainable development, Sterling Crew (Chair, IFST Food Safety Group) talks to key members of the group, about their roles and experiences. ‘Food safety, everyone's business’.

Celebrating World Food Safety Day - Interview with Sonia Andre

Celebrating World Food Safety Day - Interview with Fidelma Pogorelow

Celebrating World Food Safety Day - Interview with Damian Hankin

#FoodForThought We asked key members of IFST’s Food Safety Special Interest Group ‘What does Food Safety mean to you?’, and this is what they said … #WorldFoodSafetyDay

See what they said here 

We value the important contribution that volunteers bring to the work and life of the Institute. Without the contribution of the volunteers who serve on committees, branches and special interest groups, we would find it difficult to achieve the strategic priorities set out by the Board of Trustees. The Impact Award is an opportunity for volunteers to showcase an innovative activity that has been undertaken that meets the set criteria.

Find out more about the previous winners, entry criteria and submissions here.