Whole Foods Wins Steritech’s Excellence in Food Safety Award

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Steritech, a provider of food safety assessments and consulting, celebrated its seventh annual Excellence in Food Safety awards in Louisville, Ky., last week. The event honored Whole Foods Market as the recipient of the 2025 Excellence in Food Safety award, while Brinker International, Chicken Salad Chick and Topgolf earned honorable mention awards.

This ceremony recognizes outstanding food safety practices and emphasizes ongoing commitments to food safety excellence across the industry.

Historically centered on the fast casual industry, Steritech this year broadened the scope of the award to encompass all industries and sectors with a food safety program. Food industry brands across the nation submitted nominations for the award, which were reviewed and followed up with in-depth interviews by an independent research firm that ultimately selected the winners.

The judging criteria considered performance and initiatives supporting Steritech's seven pillars of food safety, including senior leadership engagement, communications, standards and procedures, training, key performance indicators (KPIs), oversight programs and positive recognition.

"Our 2025 honorees exemplify what it means to lead in food safety," said Doug Sutton, president of Steritech. "They don't view food safety as a burdensome set of tasks, but as a responsibility that requires buy-in from all employees, starting at the very top. By adopting disciplined practices, reinforcing awareness with frequent communication and prioritizing positive recognition, these brands highlight the value of building the kind of culture that builds accountability and habits of excellence."

Winner: Whole Foods Market.

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market has established itself as a leader in food safety, said Steritech. The company is committed to creating a robust food safety ecosystem, starting at the highest level, with CEO Jason Buechel's "Growing With Purpose" initiative, which embeds food safety into the company's 10-year vision and is regularly discussed with board members. Leaders at global and regional levels are required to be food safety-certified, enabling them to effectively coach store teams.

Whole Foods Market's dedication to food safety is further demonstrated by its extensive Food Safety Empowerment Team (FSET), comprised of 45 full-time professionals. This team focuses on critical areas, including internal audit documentation, supplier assessments and continuous improvement. The company also empowers local teams with a Safety Associate Store Team Leader in each of its more than 550 locations. Additionally, an FSET team member is designated in all eight store departments, ensuring widespread participation in food safety updates, which has risen from 28% to 98%. Whole Foods is leveraging technology, including AI for customer feedback analysis, to enhance its food safety processes and prepare for future challenges.

"Whole Foods is raising the bar on what food safety leadership can look like," said Sutton. "By transforming food safety into a shared accountability, they've created a culture where doing things right is driven by teamwork and pride, not pressure."

Honorable Mention: Brinker International.

Established in Dallas, Brinker International, parent company of Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy, has expanded to 1,600 restaurants and 1,250 additional corporate locations since its start in 1975. Guided by a commitment to Steritech's Seven Pillars of Excellence and a people-first mentality, Brinker's food safety programs are designed to enhance and reflect their promise to make every guest feel special and cared for, helping position them as an industry frontrunner in food safety excellence.

Honorable Mention: Chicken Salad Chick.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Chicken Salad Chick is known for its diverse, made-from-scratch chicken salad offerings. It has expanded to 305 locations (75% franchised) across 22 states since its establishment in 2008. Guided by an innovative and holistic approach, Chicken Salad Chick's food safety initiatives focus on seamlessly integrating best practices into every process, making safe food handling nearly effortless across its management and franchise network.

Honorable Mention: Topgolf.

Launched in 2000 in Dallas, Topgolf has grown to nearly 100 locations worldwide, transforming food safety into a motivating "team sport" through its OneShield program. This initiative recognizes excellence with awards for consistent high scores and utilizes a robust feedback loop to enable incident reporting and prompt resolution. Topgolf's accountability-driven approach focuses on addressing root causes, requiring venue leaders to implement corrective actions within 48 hours of receiving a "red" rating. This approach has significantly improved staff engagement, follow-through rates and overall food safety performance.

Click here to download the complete 2025 Excellence in Food Safety report.