Ever had someone sharpen a machete while you work through your inspection checklist? Allison Richards has. With over 15 years of food safety inspections in Jamaica, she has also been told by owners to take her shoes off at the door and has been locked inside a store until they decided the inspection was over.

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, Matt and Francine sit down with Allison, better known as The Food Safety Girl. They swap inspection war stories and dig into consumer education, food insecurity, cold chain, canning, street food, and the new Caribbean chapter of Women in Food Safety.

Spoiler alert: Fear doesn’t fix food safety. Education, relationships, and informed consumers do.

In this episode:

💩 00:00:00 Meet The Food Safety Girl, Allison Richards

💩 00:04:37 Food Safety Has to Be Fun

💩 00:06:53 Allison’s Crazy Food Safety Inspection Stories

💩 00:17:10 Cockroach Popsicles and the Kangaroo Oxtail Rumor 

💩 00:19:50 Food Tourism and Consumers as Agents of Change 

💩 00:23:45 Food Safety Compliance Through Relationships 

💩 00:27:35 Food Insecurity Is More Than Food Production 

💩 00:34:11 Canning, Frozen Plantains, and the Processed Food Debate

💩 00:36:48 Street Food in Jamaica

💩 00:40:07 The Caribbean Chapter of Women in Food Safety

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

Resources from this episode

Connect with Allison Richards on: 

• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• TikTok

Learn more about Women in Food Safety: https://www.womeninfoods.org/ 

Check out our episode with Melody Ge on Women in Food Safety: Food Safety Insights From Both Sides of the Audit with Melody Ge, CTO at EAGLE Certification Group | Episode 142

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“Consumers are really the agents of change. They’re the ones spending. They have the spending power.” – Allison Richards

Connect with Francine, Matt, and the “Don’t Eat Poop!” show on LinkedIn! 

Check out Francine’s book Who Watches the Kitchen? on Amazon!