NACS Food Safety Forum

Chapman’s interest in pathogens and public health began as a teenager while watching the movie “Outbreak.” With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, he investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers, the gatekeepers of safe food. Chapman co-hosts a bi-weekly podcast Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.

Chappelle specializes in a broad spectrum of food law and consulting. With more than a decade of experience, his extensive knowledge and expertise in all aspects of food production, state and federal regulatory compliance, product safety, and supply chain risk, allows him to provide unparalleled legal service to clients throughout the United Stated. Chappelle began his career working on behalf of some of the nation’s largest food companies, helping them manage high-profile foodborne illness outbreak litigation. His experience also includes helping companies resolve a wide range of complex food safety legal and regulatory issues, managing recalls, conducting root cause analysis, pre-suit investigation, expansive discovery, and successfully litigating complex cases.

Costello has been a Casey’s team member for 7 years and moved to her current role as the director of food safety and quality assurance in early 2022.  Before moving to her current position, she served as legal counsel and then assistant general counsel in the Casey’s Legal Department. Prior to joining the Casey’s team, she clerked for the Iowa Supreme Court before moving to private practice with a focus on litigation. She received her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and her J.D. from Drake Law School.  Costello is a member of the International Association for Food Protection and the Iowa State Bar Association.

For three decades Detwiler has played a unique role in preventing foodborne illness. He has twice been appointed to advisory positions to the USDA’s Secretary of Agriculture, represented consumers with NGOs, served on Conference for Food Protection councils, and supported the FDA’s implementation of FSMA. Detwiler is the current chairman of NEHA’s Food Safety Program Committee. He is a recipient of IAFP’s 2022 Control of Foodborne Illness Award as well as IAFP’s 2018 Distinguished Service Award.

Ellingson has been with La Crosse, Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip Inc. for nearly two decades and leads the food safety sciences behind the company’s food protection system. In 1995, he received his Ph.D. in molecular microbiology from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He did his postdoctoral fellowship training was with the USDA, Agriculture Research Service, National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, where he developed and patented a molecular diagnostic method for the detection of Johne’s disease in dairy cattle. As the director of Marshfield Clinic Laboratories–Food Safety Services in Marshfield, Wisconsin, Ellingson developed and patented a molecular diagnostic method for detection of E. coli 0157:H7. He is an adjunct professor in the Microbiology Department of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and has mentored and graduated several Masters of Science students in the Microbiology program.

Stevens is the founding member of Food Industry Counsel LLC, the only law firm in the United States that represents the food industry exclusively. As a food industry consultant and lawyer, he works with food industry clients (growers, processors, restaurant chains, distributors, grocers) helping them protect their brand by complying with FDA and USDA regulations, reducing risk, managing recalls and defending high-profile foodborne illness claims. He also speaks regularly to national and international audiences on a wide variety of emerging scientific, regulatory and food safety legal trends.

Wilson has been an associate of Wawa Inc. for nearly two decades and has been the director of quality assurance, risk management and safety for more than a decade. Prior to her current role, she served in different management positions within risk management and human resources. In addition to her role today, Wilson is a member of the Food Policy Leadership group at Wawa and helps facilitate the company’s external Food Policy Council. She also sits on many internal committees to support Wawa’s strategic plan and vision; act as a servant leader within the company and provide guidance and direction in her areas of expertise. She helped lead the COVID-19 Crisis Team and work for Wawa. Outside She is a member of Risk and Insurance Management Society, Philadelphia Area Risk Managers Association and president of the Philadelphia Chapter of Central Atlantic Association of Food and Drug Officials.

Zenlea oversees all aspects of food safety at EG America, including international and domestic regulatory compliance, retail and commissary food safety operations, and supply chain integrity. He has worked with a variety of different product categories, including refrigerated, high-risk ready-to-eat foods (meat, poultry, pork, and fresh-cut produce), chocolate and confectioneries. He is an expert in constructing, implementing and managing complex food safety, food fraud and food defense systems for large domestic and international food manufacturers. He is also a lecturer at Northeastern University and received a B.Sc. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and an MBA from Northeastern University.