Food Safety Summit Keynote Focuses on Food Safety Leadership

Mary Weaver Gertz, chief food safety and quality assurance officer at Yum! Brands, shared advice on finding your way as a food safety leader in her May 8 Food Safety Summit keynote speech, “Being Right Is Not Enough: Leading Food Safety in a Corporate and Global Environment.”

Gertz began by delving into her family history, sharing that both her mother and daughter were victims of foodborne illness.

“Food is supposed to be a lot of things,” Gertz said. “It's supposed to be nourishing. It's supposed to be part of celebration. It's supposed to be comfort, connection, love. But above all else, food is about trust. At Yum!, we say that food safety serves up trust in every bite. So when I think about my family and I go back to the work that we're doing at Yum!, I remind the people in our business and on our teams that every time someone walks into any one of our 55,000 restaurants, that's a contract of trust between them and us. There is nothing more personal than food.”

Gertz said she’s learned over the course of her career that food safety leadership is more art than science.

“Now, don't get me wrong, you need the science,” she said. “But really, where the magic comes in is with the art, and proving your technical expertise isn't always necessary.”

Early in her career, Gertz explained, a colleague advised her against leading with competence, a comment that initially perplexed her.

“One day, it clicked,” she said. “I need to be competent, but I don't need to lead with my competence. I don't need to prove every single thing that I know when I walk in the room. What I was told was, ‘You wouldn't be in the room if they didn't believe you were already competent, so you already got your ticket into the room. They trust you know the science. You don't have to come in and give them a lecture and teach them the science. They know you've got that covered. They want you to just handle that.’ What became more important was demonstrating common sense knowledge of the business and how food safety and quality assurance supports it and enables it.”

She encouraged attendees to redefine food safety leadership.

“‘Because I said so’ works very, very seldom in relationships, and especially not in business,” she said. “We have to really think about integrated leadership and be business leaders who happen to be responsible for food safety, instead of ‘I am the food safety leader in my business.’”

Gertz suggested food safety leaders should build awareness of their job function and value, whether by celebrating World Food Safety Day or campaigning to incorporate food safety into a company’s values.

“Create a brand for food safety in your business, along with a sense of pride and belonging,” she said.

“Food safety is not a function,” Gertz concluded. “Food safety is a movement, and you’re all a part of it.”

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD. During the keynote presentation, Food Safety Magazine presented its Distinguished Service Award to Kathleen Glass, Ph.D., associate director at the Food Research Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The award honors food safety professionals for their collective work in promoting and advancing science-based solutions for food safety issues.

“Throughout her career, her research has enabled her to influence and promote food safety in academia, in industry, among the public and to the government,” said Larry Keener, president and CEO of International Product Safety Consultants, who presented the award.

“Throughout my 39-year journey at the UW Madison Food Research Institute, I have been fortunate to work with incredible students, staff, faculty members, mentors and literally hundreds of collaborators in other universities, in government agencies and, certainly, my dear friends in industry,” said Glass. “This award actually serves as a tribute to our teamwork and a reminder that our collaborative efforts can make a lasting impact. I’m truly grateful for this recognition and will continue to promote food safety in any way I can.”