🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

If your fridge could talk, would it confess to crimes against food safety?

In this hilariously relatable episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine tackle a topic every food safety professional knows, but many still neglect at home: cleaning out the refrigerator. From expired blue cheese dressing with a personality of its own to mystery leftovers that defy identification, this episode dives into food safety compliance at home, proper storage habits, and the real risks of ignoring expiration dates.

Spoiler: your condiments are probably guilty.

In this episode:

00:00:00 Deep Cleaning Your Refrigerator

00:04:59 The Hidden Danger of Condiments

00:14:43 Safe Thawing Practices

00:23:46 FIFO: First In, First Out

00:27:26 Fridge Sanitation Schedules

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“ When you're cleaning out leftovers, and your question isn't, 'What is this?’ but ‘What was this?’ that’s not good.” – Matt Regusci

“ Folks, it's time to clean out your refrigerator and get rid of those condiments from last summer. Get rid of them!” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

Food safety regulations can sometimes feel like a bureaucratic maze, but behind the scenes, regulators, inspectors, and food businesses are all trying to accomplish the same thing: keeping people from getting sick.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine sit down with Steven Mandernach from AFDO (the Association of Food and Drug Officials) to unpack the complex world of food safety inspections, regulatory collaboration, and the future of food safety compliance.

From government shutdowns affecting inspectors to the evolving relationship between state regulators, the FDA, and food businesses, the conversation dives deep into how the system really works and where it could work better.

In this episode:

00:00:00 The AFDO, FDA, and USDA

00:06:27 Food Code Interpretation Gaps

00:11:12 Food Facility Inspection Realities

00:22:07 Industry and Regulator Partnerships

00:34:32 Food Safety Workforce Challenges

00:47:02 Compensation And Staffing

00:51:38 The Role of Lawyers in Food Safety

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Connect with Steven here.

Listen to our last conversation with Steven:

Rethinking How Things Are Done to Solve Food Safety Problems with Steven Mandernach from AFDO | Episode 90

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“I'm not sure it's a science major. I think we could find someone with critical thinking skills, good time management, and who communicates well, and I could turn them into a good food safety inspector.” – Steven Mandernach

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine sit down with leadership powerhouse Tia Glave, co-founder of Catalyst Food Leaders, to discuss the one thing most food safety professionals overlook: culture and behavior change.

If your HACCP plan is flawless but your team still rolls their eyes at food safety training, this episode is for you.

Because here’s the hard truth: food safety compliance isn’t a paperwork problem. It’s a people problem.

Recorded at the Food Safety Consortium, Tia explains why technical brilliance won’t move your organization forward unless you can explain the why in a way that actually resonates, from preventing foreign material contamination to navigating food safety audits for foodservice.

In this episode:

00:00:00 Why Culture Drives Food Safety

00:05:17 Behavior Change Takes Time

00:11:46 Connecting To Personal Values

00:19:01 Budgets, Strategy, And Buy-In

00:27:57 Traceability And Change Management

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Connect with Tia here.

Past episodes with Tia:

• Food Safety Talk with Tia Glave and Jill Stuber from Catalyst | Episode 36
• Food Safety Voices: Communicating Effectively in Challenging Times (LinkedIn Live) | Episode 106

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“I don't need to be the voice of food safety culture as a food safety professional. Everyone knows I care about it. I need that maintenance tech to be talking about it. I need the finance team to be talking about it in a meeting. I need someone else who I didn't even know heard me to be talking about it in their circles. That's what we need. We need that commitment, and you get it through connecting to their values.” – Tia Glave

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are discussing Francine's favorite virus: Norovirus.

It's no surprise this foodborne illness made an appearance at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and it's also no surprise that our hosts had a thing or two to say about this super spreader event.

Tune in for some laughs, a shortage of condoms, all you need to know about the super bug that is Norovirus, and more.

In this episode:

0:00:00 Matt's life fostering medically fragile kids

0:07:05 Olympics + free condoms = more Norovirus?

0:14:53 The Poop Cruise: the cruiseship from hell

0:18:26 The science behind the spread of Norovirus

0:26:37 Francine's Norovirus outbreak care packages

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Watch Trainwreck: Poop Cruise.

Catch up with Episode 152, where we talk about the economics of foodborne illnesses.

Read The Conversation article Matt and Francine refer to in this episode.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“ Norovirus is like a super bug, man. It has good survival skills. I gotta hand it to Norovirus. It is a maximum survivalist. So, making sure to thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water is essential.” – Matt Regusci

“ 2,800 athletes were there the first week. Now, they've been handing out these free condoms since 1988, and I wonder if there's a correlation between the close contact and the Norovirus.” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are celebrating the podcast's 3 Year Anniversary with a blast from the past: the salmon in the dishwasher, the podcast's first inside joke.

If you've been listening for a while, you probably know that cooking your salmon in the dishwasher is a BAD idea. Now, tune in to discover all the other things that people put in their dishwashers and what experts have to say about it.

Thank you for listening, and here’s to another year of the Don’t Eat Poop! Podcast.

In this episode:

0:00:00 A party trick for your Super Bowl watch party

0:07:18 Why cooking in a dishwasher is a BAD idea

0:15:36 Part 1: Strangest things put in dishwashers

0:19:07 Questionable ways to thaw poultry and more

0:23:56 Part 2: Strangest things put in dishwashers

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Catch up with our "fun" episode from a couple of weeks ago, Episode 153.

Watch the Netflix series about the Australian lady who killed in-laws with Beef Wellington.

Learn more about Norovirus at the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics on this LinkedIn post by Francine.

Find the full Consumer Reports Matt and Francine are referring to here.

Check out Francine’s book Who Watches the Kitchen? for more crazy stories people shared during training.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“ Appliances are designed to perform specific tasks quickly and efficiently, so take advice from the people who make the dishwashers and leave [the food] to the cooking ranges and ovens. Amen.” – Matt Regusci

“ When I was training, I had people tell me that they thawed their poultry in the dryer. Can you imagine a turkey tumbling in your clothing dryer?” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are highlighting Azure Edwards's latest opinion piece on Food Safety News, "The food industry’s training problem is the system it keeps paying for".

She raises crucial points that our hosts have also been talking about for a while, such as the importance of having a strong food safety culture, the real financial impact of weak training and systems, how audits and certifications are not enough, and more.

In this episode:

0:00:00 The food safety industry's training failures

0:08:45 How food safety culture weakens under pressure

0:14:14 What is missing from food safety training

0:18:05 The risks of transactional food safety

0:20:19 What makes a company successful long-term

0:27:03 The real importance of ethics and integrity

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Read the Food Safety News opinion piece by Azure Edwards that Matt and Francine refer to in this episode.

For a look into the real cost of food safety failures, catch up with Episode 152.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“ I love that she uses the temporary workers and the seasonal workers as a stress test for your food safety culture. If there's an issue with your facility during these peak times, it's not your seasonal and temporary workers that are the issue. It's your systems that are the issue.” – Matt Regusci

“ I've always said the one thing that nobody can take from you is integrity. You do that yourself.” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are taking a detour from food poisoning to actual poison in food.

Our hosts hadn't done any episodes about people getting intentionally killed with food in a long time, and Francine, our resident murder-mystery aficionado, made sure it got back in the lineup.

Tune in for the Thanksgiving from hell case, where a mother poisoned her children's wine, and a throwback to the poison mushroom beef Wellington case.

In this episode:

0:00:00 Someone did kill their loved ones this time

0:03:53 The poison mushroom beef Wellington murders

0:07:49 How a mother killed her family on Thanksgiving

0:15:09 Premeditation and getting away with murder

0:21:21 Our fascination with how criminal minds work

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Learn all about the Thanksgiving from Hell case here.

Hear more about the Australian lady who tried to kill her in-laws with beef Wellington on Episode 38.

In case you needed a reminder, catch up with Episode 95 | Don’t Kill Your Loved Ones During the Holidays and Episode 146 | Seriously, Don’t Kill Your Loved Ones During the Holidays.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“To put this chemical in wine and give it to your children and one of their children's boyfriends at a Thanksgiving dinner. That is a whole new level of evil to me.” – Matt Regusci

“ She's a restaurateur. How much has she potentially gotten away with in 20 years? That is scary. If she's willing to do this to her own children, who else might she be willing to do this to, potentially?” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms

🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.

👉 Follow Francine and Matt on LinkedIn for more food safety insights and updates.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are talking about some very high, but also very preventable, costs: those resulting from foodborne illnesses.

Our hosts are unpacking the Cost Estimates of Foodborne Illnesses data for 2023, released by the USDA in December 2025. You'll learn the real cost of diseases such as Salmonella, Norovirus, Listeria, Botulism, and more.

In this episode:

0:03:38 Norovirus: largest number of cases

0:08:54 Salmonella: greatest overall cost

0:11:19 E.coli, Botulism, Vibrio: surprising numbers

0:13:07 Listeria: fewer cases, deadly costs

0:23:10 How to get buy-in for food safety initiatives

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Read the Marler Blog article Matt and Francine refer to in this episode.

Check out Francine's QSR Magazine 2018 article on the cost of foodborne illness.

Catch up with Episode 144 | Apparently, a Little Salmonella in Poultry is Okay. But Should It Really Be?

Also listen to Episode 122 | Listeria’s Lasting Damage: A Food Safety Wake-Up Call

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“ You have an easier chance of getting a one on a roll of a dice than surviving Listeriosis. It is like one in three, one in four, depending upon the outbreak. So you have a 25% to 33% chance of death when you get Listeriosis. Not good.” – Matt Regusci

“ Those are the things that people don't think about. They see these numbers. These are numbers on our screens at this point. People see numbers, and they hear statistics [but] these are human lives.” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Together, we can raise awareness and make a positive impact in the world of food safety!

Share your thoughts and feedback on the show, and feel free to offer any topics you would like to hear discussed.

We'd love to hear from you!

📲 Connect with Francine, Matt, and the "Don't Eat Poop!" show on LinkedIn!

📕 Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen?

🎙️ BE A GUEST ON DON’T EAT POOP!

Fill out this form to tell us more about yourself. We’ll reach out via email within 30 days with next steps if you’re selected.

_______

Produced by Ideablossoms