Ep. 92. Chirag Bhatt: A Career along the Supply Chain

<p>Chirag Bhatt has been involved in food safety for 4 decades. After working with the local regulatory agency in the city of Houston for over 26 years. Chirag joined Bloomin’ Brands as their Global Regulatory Compliance Manager. Then Sysco Corp as Regulatory and Technical Services Director. And most recently with retailer Buc-ee’s, as a Director of Food Safety and QA before starting his own food safety consulting company.<br /> <br /> He has served as Chair for the National Restaurant Associations Quality Assurance executive study group. And currently serves as an Education Advisory Board member with Food Safety Summit and is an advisory council member with Sani Professional. Chirag holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry.</p> <p>In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Chirag [14:40] about:</p> <ul> <li>The interconnectedness of the food supply chain</li> <li>Inspection challenges at a local level</li> <li>Food Code compliance</li> <li>Effects of COVID on the distribution chain</li> <li>Supply chain vulnerabilities</li> <li>Meal and food delivery</li> <li>The effects of local culture on food safety</li> <li>The interface between consumers and foodservice/retail</li> <li>Trying to be proactive rather than reactive</li> <li>Consumer messaging</li> <li>Current food safety trends</li> </ul> <p><strong>Resources</strong><br /> <br /> <a href= "https://www.food-safety.com/articles/7016-first-quarter-of-2021-brings-only-three-multistate-foodborne-illness-outbreaks"> First Quarter of 2021 Brings Only Two Multistate Foodborne Illness Outbreaks</a> (1:00)<br /> <a href= "https://www.afdo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AFDO-Restaurant-Reopening-Fact-Sheet-v.5.pdf"> AFDO Resources for Reopening Restaurants</a> [3:58]<br /> Advice on Preventing Mislabeling [7:11]<em><br /> We had a letter from a listener about label related recalls who wrote:<strong><br /></strong></em></p> <p>“At my company, we have separate rooms for our products and even have a separate facility for peanut butter to ensure there’s