Q&A: Sandra Eskin Leads Food Safety Advocacy Organization, STOP, as CEO

Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) recently announced Sandra Eskin at the helm of the organization as its newest chief executive officer. STOP is a national public health nonprofit dedicated to preventing foodborne illness and advocating for stronger food safety policies.

Eskin is an industry leader in food safety, most recently at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as deputy under secretary for food safety, and has a long track record of food safety advocacy. Eskin has worked on a broad range of food safety, consumer protection and public policy issues.  

She has also served on several federal advisory committees, providing strategic policy advice related to foodborne illness surveillance, consumer information on prescription drugs and food safety.  Eskin holds a J.D. from University of California Law-San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of the Law) and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University. 

Eskin succeeds Mitzi Baum, who had served as STOP CEO since 2019. Eskin’s leadership will be crucial in building upon the momentum created by Baum, who stepped down after six years as CEO, the organization said.

QA Digital Editor Amanda Joerndt sat down with Eskin in an exclusive interview to learn more about her passion for food safety and advocacy, her future goals stepping into her new role as STOP CEO and where she plans to use her government background to continue advocating for food safety regulations in a critical time of need.

Amanda Joerndt: What attracted you to the role of CEO for STOP?

Sandra Eskin: I have been involved in food safety for about 30 years, just about the same time that STOP was created. What makes STOP unique is that it was founded and has been sustained by “constituents,” people who have been directly impacted by serious foodborne illnesses.

AJ: What food safety roles did you hold before joining STOP, and how does your prior work experience inform your new role?

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SE: In 1993, I was doing work for AARP on a range of consumer protection issues, and then the Jack in the Box [E. coli] outbreak occurred. I noted that because older people, and people who have compromised immune systems, were particularly at risk. I convinced AARP that it needed to weigh in on food safety. AARP joined a friend of the court brief in support of USDA’s decision to declare E. coli an adulterant, and the decision was upheld. That was my first successful foray in food safety policy.

About 15 years ago, The Pew Charitable Trusts decided to start a project working on food safety, and I worked at Pew for about 11 years. A key moment in that work was our advocacy to get the FDA more authority on food safety. A group of STOP constituents were absolutely indispensable to that campaign. They came to Washington, DC, multiple times to talk to congressmen, talked to the press, and this all happened, in 2008-2009, during  a Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter and peanut paste.

I have spent the last four years as the deputy under secretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where I worked on improving the safety of meat and poultry products.

AJ: What drives your passion for food safety?

SE: Everybody eats, and when I finished law school and I realized I wanted to be consumer advocate, I considered various consumer products, but we all need food to stay healthy, eat right and we all want to make sure that our food is safe. We know that food safety and nutrition impact all of that, so that is one of the main reasons why I decided to focus my career on food policy. What drives my passion are the people I work with — whether my colleagues in the consumer advocacy group, in government or industry — who care and want to do the right thing. It is very heartening when you see the industry step up and go above and beyond what they are required to do.

AJ: What are your goals as you enter this new role?

SE: STOP developed a lot of very impactful initiatives while Mitzi Baum was the CEO, so I want to continue these initiatives, but I also want to look at issues that aren’t getting attention and have a significant public health impact. So it’s looking to see what we have done already and looking forward to the future. I have spent a lot of time getting oriented with the initiatives that STOP staff are working on, like making recalls more effective and making everyone involved in the food safety industry more aware of the importance of a strong food safety culture. It’s not something you can look up in a book, and you really need to internalize it wherever you are in the supply chain. If you look at food source attribution data, what foods are making people sick, and continually, it’s fresh produce. We have to do a better job at ensuring the safety in fresh produce.

AJ: What are the greatest challenges you anticipate facing in this position?

SE: Our goal at STOP is to improve food safety. So much focus is appropriately on government and its role to ensure food companies do what they need to do to produce safe products. It is clear right now that the current administration will not be focusing on regulations to improve food safety, so that will be a challenge. I am here in Washington, D.C., and I am a lawyer, so I am used to the policy making process, but the challenge will be what avenues we can pursue to ensure food safety  — that doesn’t involve the government  — and the answer to that is collaboration with the food industry.

AJ: STOP recently issued a statement along with other stakeholders that voiced concerns about the safety of the nation’s food supply with an under-resourced FDA. What are your thoughts on the future of food safety in light of recent layoffs at the FDA, USDA and more?

SE: Consumer survey after consumer survey shows that people believe that ensuring the safety of food is an essential government function. Cutting resources, firing staff, many of whom have been in the job for years, undermines consumer expectations. It is very concerning, and I hope that all of us raise our voices and to say this is not the way to go. I hope that message gets heard by the leaders who are cutting funds. I think that is a huge mistake and we are going to be dealing with more problems, not fewer problems, going forward.

AJ: How do you hope to continue to bring in the next generation of food safety professionals?

SE: STOP has a program called “40 under 40,” so we have a targeted desire and effort to bring young people into the food safety space. I know throughout my career and the younger people who I have worked with, there are a lot of very bright and smart young people out there. With programs like “40 under 40.”  we can have an impact on ensuring the next generation can be prepared for the food safety challenges they will likely be facing.