This section brings together relevant videos, publications, and materials developed by the
New Zealand Food Safety Science & Research Centre.
Resources from New Zealand Food Safety Science & Research Centre (NZFSSRC)
Food Science Seminar Spotlight on Food Safety Culture in organisations
Speaker: Frank Yiannas
The New Zealand Food Safety Science & Research Centre hosted an invited seminar with Frank Yiannas, an internationally recognised leader in food safety and organisational culture. Drawing on leadership roles at Disney, Walmart, and the U.S. FDA, Frank shared insights into why food safety failures are often rooted not only in science and systems, but in culture.
The seminar explored:
Why “the soft stuff is the hard stuff” in food safety
Lessons from major global incidents where culture, not just technical failure, played a decisive role
The role of leadership in shaping organisational culture
Evidence-based behavioural science principles to strengthen food safety culture
Practical approaches to embedding expectations, communication, measurement, and reinforcement
Rather than focusing solely on training, audits, or testing, the presentation emphasises the importance of human behaviour, shared norms, and leadership responsibility in sustaining food safety performance.
▶ Watch the full seminar below.
Speaker: Lone Jespersen
This seminar explores how food safety systems and organisational culture interact in practice — and why strong procedures alone are not enough.
Key themes include:
The limits of compliance-driven food safety systems
The role of leadership visibility and behavioural modelling
Integrating psychosocial risk into food safety thinking
Moving from reactive correction to proactive cultural awareness
Practical examples of measurable culture improvement in industry
Drawing on real case studies and applied research, the session challenges organisations to rethink how culture and systems must operate together to support sustainable food safety performance.
▶ Watch the full seminar below.