Guest Post By: Jason Simas

(Introduction by: Thomas Siebertz)

I started following @Ipura (Jason Simas) on Twitter after seeing some really interesting articles about food safety from his feed. I was curious to know who was writing for the account. Jason was happy to talk with me about his job and how he got started.

For those of us who love food science but also have a passion for writing, I thought a guest post from Jason would be interesting and inspiring. As food scientists, it’s incumbent upon us to be good communicators and help educate the public on the facts. Jason offers some insight on his role as a food safety communicator:

To learn more about the top bloggers’ work in the world of food safety, I Googled “food safety blog.”  To my surprise, on the first page of results (as of the writing of this post, it is near the top of the 2nd page) was my publication sponsored by an innovative health and wellness brand.  At the top of the search results were blogs by the FDA, USDA, Bill Marler, Barfblog’s Doug Powell, the Leavitt Partners and a handful of others, including “Food Safety By iPura.”  What great company, and what tremendous responsibility!

The purpose of the blog has been to communicate the importance of food safety, quality, and sustainability to all links in the distribution chain, to find the language that connects with each stakeholder in order to make genuinely meaningful impact.  In the course of researching, writing, and sharing the information with hundreds of thousands of readers, I have come to realize the solemn and exciting nature of the field, and how much more there is to know.  It is international, domestic and local.  Hyper-local.  It is you and it is me.

The fight against disease-causing microbes is a matter of life and death.  Sound science, Best Practices, and words matter.  Speaking directly to food scientists, farmers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, officials and consumers, the Food Safety communicator plays a key role in public health by keeping the conversation alive, present, relevant and evolving.  For students searching for a field in which  never-ending challenges and opportunities to make a difference exist, Food Safety may have more to offer you than you have considered.

In the first post of a new series on my blog, “The Future of Food Safety,” author Thomas Siebertz shared his enthusiasm for his work and the need for more students to pursue a career keeping the food supply safe.  As he noted, the global food supply chain is growing increasingly more complex, giving rise to emerging challenges that will require management by a bunch of smart people.  Will there be enough of them trained to do the job, he asks?  What is the future of Food Safety?  Who are the future leaders and managers?  Our series explores these questions in the words of today’s students and young professionals.  If interested in writing a guest post for “The Future of Food Safety,” please let me know!

Jason Simas is President of Grant, Hamilton & Beck, LLC, a communications consultancy and publisher with a focus on health, wellness and entertainment.  Join him and his nearly 20,000 followers at @iPura on Twitter and feel free to connect with him at LinkedIn.com