Food Safety Connoisseur Joseph Realdine Addresses National Audience On “Evil Pathogens”

(Hale‘iwa, Hawai‘i) — Recognized industry expert Joseph Realdine addressed the 2018 American Culinary Federation National Convention & Show in New Orleans July 19. The ACF invited him to conduct a presentation on food safety titled “Protecting your Brand from Evil Pathogens,” based on his nearly 30-year career in food safety inspections.

Some 48 million Americans suffer from foodborne illness each year, with 120,000 of those victims requiring hospitalization. Sadly, 3,000 of those cases result in death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The most common causes are norovirus, salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli, to name just a few.

Joseph Realdine, EIAO, FLS, Ret., served for 27 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Recently retired as a Frontline Supervisor/Supervisory Consumer Safety Officer, his passion for food safety for consumers and in advocacy for foodservice operators burns as brightly as ever.
His newly released book “Tasty Safety” provides guidance for others to follow in producing, storing and transporting food safely. The book charts his life experiences on his path to food safety and his mission of protecting the public by reducing foodborne illnesses. (Now available via Amazon.)

Realdine’s expertise comprises all types of food safety programs such as HACCP, SSOP, SPS, and Micro Compliance. His services also include pathogen tracking and investigations and he has long-standing, established contacts within the USDA.

In his nearly three decades with the agency, Joseph’s positions ranged from Slaughter Inspector to Consumer Safety Officer Supervisory and Frontline Supervisor. His real-world experience includes inspections of a wide range of facilities as a red meat slaughter inspector, poultry slaughter inspector, Halal slaughter inspector and processing inspector.

Joseph possesses vast experience with international imports and exports. He provided technical guidance as Relief Consumer Safety Inspector (RSIC) to import facilities (I-Houses) and to representatives of importers, brokers and distributors from Australia; New Zealand; China; Israel; France; Poland; Iceland; Brazil; Argentina; Uruguay; Spain; Ireland, Jordan and Chile.

As an inspector, Joseph was called as an expert witness in a successful USDA case against Homestead Gourmet Foods for repeated food processing violations — and positive tests for Listeria monocytogenes.

Throughout his USDA career, Joseph received dozens of awards including a few USDA-FSIS Administrator Awards, as well as the Unsung Hero Award from the Organization of Professional Employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (OPEDA). He brings real-life knowledge and experience from the front lines of food safety. He is a dedicated first-responder, as immediate boots-on-the-ground on the front lines of safe food service at Ground Zero (NYC), as well as for survivors of Hurricane Andrew.

Prior to his federal food-safety-focused career, he was classically trained as a chef at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, New York. He worked at restaurants and upscale hotels — and then chose a different path to help keep people eat safely.

Editor’s note: EIAO is a federally recognized acronym which stands for Enforcement Investigation Analysis Officer. FLS stands for Frontline Supervisor. High-res photography can be found here: http://bit.ly/JR_high-res