The Future of Food Safety: Four Mega Trends to Look Out For

Frank Yiannas, a veteran in the food safety landscape, took to the stage with a resounding message: our global food safety systems must evolve, or we will face greater consequences than we ever imagined. In his keynote address, Yiannas—who has spent his career at the helm of some of the most influential food safety operations in the world—made a compelling case for why we are, in many ways, losing the battle against foodborne illnesses. However, his speech wasn’t one of defeat, but rather one of resilience, responsibility, and, most importantly, reinvention.
 
Yiannas’ journey in food safety is unlike many others. It started, as he said, “with a mouse”—not in a metaphorical sense but in the literal context of working with The Walt Disney Company for nearly 20 years as Director for Safety & Health. His tenure at Disney, and later at retail giant Walmart as VP of Food Safety and Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy & Repones in the FDA, provided a window into some of the most dynamic shifts in food safety management. His speech, delivered with the poise of someone who has spent decades at the forefront of this ever-evolving field, was packed with both deep insights and the hard realities of where the world currently stands when it comes to safeguarding the food supply.
 
What emerged from his keynote was not just a review of his professional experiences, but a detailed framework of four mega-trends shaping the future of food safety—each more pressing than the last.

But the fight is not hopeless, according to Yiannas. Instead, it requires a complete shift in how we approach food safety, starting with the recognition of four critical mega-trends that are already shaping the future of food safety.
 

Food Safety Starts with Trust: From Mickey Mouse to Walmart

Yiannas’ journey from Disney to Walmart and then to the FDA might not seem like the most typical career trajectory, but for him, these shifts illustrated a broader truth: food safety isn’t just about science; it’s about trust.
 
At Disney, Yiannas’ role was to ensure that the millions of guests visiting the theme parks each year not only had a magical experience but a safe one. “When families come to Disney, they trust that everything—from the rides to the food—is safe,” he said. And trust, in Yiannas’ eyes, is the foundation of food safety. The stakes were high at Disney, but when he transitioned to Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, the scale of responsibility skyrocketed. Walmart wasn’t just catering to millions of guests for a day but feeding hundreds of millions around the globe—every day. The systems in place to ensure food safety at this scale were intricate, but as Yiannas noted, they were also fragile.
 
This experience set the stage for what became the next significant chapter in his career: leading food safety for the U.S. government as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the FDA. “I went from the happiest place on Earth to the busiest place under Walmart, and then, well, I ended up at a place where people love to take shots at you—the FDA,” he joked. His time at the FDA, however, was no laughing matter, as it provided him with a national and global perspective on the food safety challenges we face.

Are We Winning the War Against Foodborne Illness?

In one of the most pivotal moments of his speech, Yiannas posed a fundamental question to the audience of food safety professionals: Are we winning the battle against foodborne illness?
 
The answer, as Yiannas noted, is disheartening. Despite the best efforts of regulatory agencies, industry leaders, and safety protocols, foodborne pathogens continue to wreak havoc worldwide. Yiannas recounted how, despite technological advancements, the rate of foodborne illness outbreaks has not significantly declined in the past two decades. In his words, “We’re essentially flatlining.”
 
But why? Yiannas argued that part of the issue is that pathogens themselves have evolved—adapted to the very systems designed to keep them at bay. Listeria, E. coli, and Campylobacter, for instance, weren’t even on our radar a century ago. These pathogens, which continue to cause death and illness, have become the “Hydra” of the food safety world: cut off one head, and two more emerge in its place.
 
While modern food safety systems may have reduced the threat of older pathogens—like the tapeworms and typhoid of the past—new and more aggressive strains have taken their place, challenging a system not built to handle them.

Mega Trend 1: Making the Invisible Visible

Yiannas’ first mega-trend underscored the critical need to leverage technology to detect what we can’t see: the hidden pathogens lurking in our food supply. He likened the current food safety challenges to an iceberg—where the majority of the problem lies beneath the surface, invisible to the naked eye. He emphasized the transformative power of whole-genome sequencing, which has revolutionized how quickly and accurately we can trace foodborne illness outbreaks.

Unlike in the past, when tracing an outbreak could take weeks or even months, today we can sequence the genome of bacteria and quickly identify links between cases across different states and countries. This not only allows for faster responses but, as Yiannas described it, “makes the invisible visible.” 

One of the most striking technology-based examples he gave was an E. coli outbreak in Denmark. By analyzing patients’ credit card records, public health officials were able to trace the source of the outbreak back to a specific brand of sausage. This might have taken weeks without the aid of technology, but it was resolved swiftly thanks to modern tracking methods. 

Yiannes personally invested heavily in this kind of technology during his time at the FDA, developing what he’d like to call “Infodemiology”—the science of tracking health trends using information gathered from non-traditional sources like social media, search engines, and online forums. Think about it: people are often more likely to search for their symptoms online than they are to go to the doctor. In some cases, this gives the regulatory bodies the opportunity to intervene before a disease even has a chance to spread. 

Similarly, in Canada, public health officials were able to detect a Listeria outbreak from Maple Leaf Foods simply by monitoring internet search patterns. The takeaway? We are no longer waiting for people to report illnesses—we’re actively searching for them in real time, thanks to the ever-expanding capabilities of technology. Yet, as Yiannas pointed out, even as we’ve gotten better at detection, we’ve failed to keep pace on the prevention side, leading to the second critical mega-trend. 

Mega Trend 2: A Race Between Prevention and Detection 

“We’re in a race between the food industry’s ability to prevent illnesses and the government’s ability to detect them,” Yiannas said. And, disturbingly, prevention is losing. His examples were sobering. Take Blue Bell Creameries, a beloved ice cream brand in the U.S. For 108 years, it operated without a single outbreak. But in 2015, that record was shattered by a Listeria outbreak that claimed multiple lives. The company, Yiannas explained, had failed to evolve its safety practices to meet the challenges posed by modern pathogens. 

The same story played out with deli meats, where several deaths are linked to Listeria contamination now. In both cases, the companies involved look to operate under food safety models that worked in the past but are potentially ill-equipped to handle the threats of today. 

According to Yiannas, the solution lies in predictive analytics, real-time monitoring, and automated safety checks. Relying solely on detection is not enough. If companies want to keep pace with today’s pathogens, they need to invest in preventive technologies. He highlighted how the FDA had used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict which seafood shipments entering the U.S. were likely to be contaminated, increasing the agency’s detection capabilities by 300%. It’s these kinds of advancements, he argued, that the private sector needs to adopt if it hopes to win the race. 

Mega Trend 3: The Criminalization of Food Safety 

The criminalization of food safety was perhaps the most striking and unsettling mega-trend in Yiannas’ talk. He explained that food safety violations are no longer just a matter of fines or bad PR—they can send people to prison. 

One of the most high-profile examples he shared was the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) case. In 2008, PCA knowingly sold peanut products contaminated with Salmonella, resulting in one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history. Over 700 people fell ill, and nine died. The CEO of PCA, Stewart Parnell, was sentenced to 28 years in prison—a sentence more severe than many violent crimes receive. 

Yiannas made it clear: the legal burden has shifted. It’s no longer just about intentional misconduct. Companies can now be held criminally liable for negligence—for failing to prevent foreseeable risks. The question is no longer “Did you know?” but “Should you have known?” This shift is forcing food industry leaders to rethink their approach to safety. Ignorance is no longer a defense, and companies that fail to take proactive steps in safeguarding their food supply could find themselves facing criminal charges. And this is not isolated to the U.S. 

Mega Trend 4: Climate Change and the Future of Food Safety 

The final mega-trend Yiannas discussed was climate change and its far-reaching impacts on food safety. Climate change, he warned, is not a problem for the future—it’s happening now. 

Yiannas provided the example of the infant formula shortage in 2022 that struck the U.S. when a major plant in Sturgis, Michigan was shut down due to a one-in-a-hundred-year flood—an event likely exacerbated by climate change. This wasn’t an isolated incident.

Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are already disrupting food production and safety across the globe. He also pointed to the quadrupling of Cyclospora cases in the U.S. last year. This parasite, which traditionally thrived in tropical climates, has now become a problem in regions previously unaffected by it. The rising temperatures have created new environments for pathogens to thrive, posing unforeseen risks to our food systems.

Yiannas called on the food industry to take climate change seriously and begin preparing for the disruptive events that will inevitably follow. The days of business as usual are over, and those who fail to adapt will not only find themselves battling pathogens but also facing existential threats to their operations. 

A Call to Action

Frank Yiannas ended his speech on an optimistic note, but it was also a call to action. “What got us here won’t get us to where we need to be,” he emphasized. The world of food safety is changing faster than ever before, and if we don’t change with it, the consequences will be dire.
 
But change, Yiannas argued, is possible. He pointed to the advancements in technology, the improvements in foodborne illness detection, and the growing awareness of climate change’s impact on food safety as reasons to be hopeful. Yet, he was clear: hope alone is not enough. The food industry must take bold steps to modernize its safety practices, invest in preventive technologies, and prepare for the challenges ahead.
 
As the audience left the room, it was evident that Yiannas had given them much to think about. His speech was not just an overview of the current state of food safety but a blueprint for how the industry can reinvent itself to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

For more information regarding FOSS’ solution on analytics data management, real-time monitoring, and automated safety checks within food safety and suppliers quality, see FOSS IQX.