About 48 million Americans, or one in six, get sick from food-borne illnesses each year, 128,000 of them requiring hospitalization, and 3,000 of them dying as a result. Twin brothers Michael and Charlie Kalish bring food-manufacturing, processing, packing, holding and farming experience to this cause, consulting to start-ups and leadership to food businesses to promote a safer food supply chain. Hear how they parlayed a background in cheese making into a thriving food safety consultancy in this month’s Pulse podcast.
Michael and Charlie’s professional experience began in a train tunnel in France, the site of one of Europe’s premier cheese aging facilities where they worked together handling 60 tons of fromage. “Working in these rustic environments, we gained not just a new language but new principles and ways of approaching the manufacturing and holding of safe food,” Michael says.
In 2012, the twins launched their Food Safety Guides consultancy in response to the growing need by industry for food safety expertise and the sweeping changes in U.S. food safety regulations resulting from the Food Safety Modernization Act. They now specialize in working with QA teams in businesses of all sizes to ensure safe food practices. Michael and Charlie have distinguished themselves globally in the food safety field with their innovative approach to food safety system development, engaging training styles, and FSMA expertise. Join them in September when they will offer a 2.5-day FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Training at UC San Diego Extension.