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Summary
This Food Safety Consultant & Interim Executive is a highly accomplished food safety leader and advisor with 25 years of experience across the food industry, manufacturing, food processing, and food service. She is recognized for bridging operational realities with regulatory compliance and quality assurance, building cross-functional alignment from executive leadership to frontline teams. This Food Safety Consultant & Interim Executive’s expertise spans FSMA compliance, Food Defense, HACCP, supplier verification, and innovation strategy.
She has worked with national and regional clients to design food safety programs that align with business goals while protecting public health. She brings deep expertise in manufacturing environments, having overseen QA and FSQA programs across processing, packaging, and distribution operations. Michelle has implemented robust food safety systems in USDA and FDA-regulated facilities, with hands-on experience leading plant audits, process validations, and facility flow redesigns for compliance. This Food Safety Consultant & Interim Executive is equally passionate about people—mentoring emerging leaders and building confident, capable food safety teams in high-pressure environments.
Highlights
- 25+ Years in Food Safety, Quality, and Operations
- Corporate Food Safety Governance | Enterprise Risk Management | Crisis Management
- Experienced with Retail, CPG, Foodservice, and Food Processing
- National Speaker & Educator | Curriculum Developer
- Strong Regulatory, Operational & Leadership Integration
- Partner to FDA, Retail Chains, Academia, and Vendors
- Facility Design
Relevant Accomplishments
- Led multi-site food safety system redesigns for manufacturing facilities, including facility flow for FSMA compliance. These projects included fresh-cut processing, high-risk RTE items, and co-manufacturing partnerships, and focused on improving facility layout, sanitation practices, and environmental monitoring programs.
- Actively volunteers as a mentor in the International Association of Food Protection mentorship program
- Acted as a trusted advisor during FDA audits (483 letters) for airline catering company for three months to learn operations, finding source of Listeria m. in zone 1, and review and provide recommendations to company food safety plan and facility design flow.
- Influenced company leadership in retail grocery and manufacturing to shift the culture from a reactive response to food safety crises to a preventative approach to avoid food safety crises.
- Conducted on-site root cause investigation at tortilla manufacturer to find source of foreign material.
- Liaised with regulatory agencies to build relationships and trust between retailers, food processors, and food service operators. Strong on-going relationship building with local, state, and federal regulatory authorities.
- Led regional and local food safety teams in professional development, crisis management, developing food safety programs, and partnering with leadership in retail stores, manufacturing, and warehouse/distribution.
Roles
- Founder & Principal Consultant, InnoSafe Foods / DMJW LLC (2020–Present, West Des Moines, IA)
- Expert Food Safety Advisor, KTLO Solutions
- Expert Food Safety Advisor, Active Food Safety
- Head of Food Safety, Maverik Inc.
- Senior Food Safety Manager, H-E-B Grocery Company
- Manager of Operations, H-E-B Grocery Company
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