This year, World Food Safety Day is on 7th June, and we'd like to take a moment to shine a light on the science, the people and the passion which goes into keeping our meals safe. 2025's theme is "Science in Action", a topic which reflects the incredibly important work we do behind the scenes to create quality, great-tasting meals.

For this blog we've caught up with Corinne Tracz (below left alongside Olivia Harrison and Justyna Hill at the Food Safety Innovation Conference, 2024), our Technical Manager, for a Q&A on the vital role that food safety plays at Cuisine Centre.

I'm Corinne and I’m the Technical Manager here at Cuisine Centre, looking after everything related to compliance and food safety. My background began in hospitality and catering, where I worked in food service across hotels, restaurants, and even aviation.

Through meeting and chatting with customers, I noticed a gap in menus which catered for special dietary needs. This led me back to university to complete a BSc (Hons) in Nutritional Therapy and I am a registered Nutritional Therapist. From there, I transitioned into food manufacturing as a Development Technologist, combining health, nutrition, and food science to develop bespoke products for use in the food service industry.

My role has evolved into one centred on food safety and compliance, ensuring that every product we put on the market meets the highest industry standards and customer requirements.

No day is ever the same and that's what makes my role so fun and interesting. One day I might be visiting a supplier or a customer, the next I’m at one of our factory sites improving systems or mentoring our Technical and Quality apprentices.

In a nutshell, the technical team is very much a problem-solving department. We collaborate across all functions to balance practical operations with strict compliance. It's a fine balance to juggle operational requirements with that of food safety, and to help me achieve this I have recently completed my Level 7 Senior Leadership Apprenticeship and am now working towards my MBA.

It’s easy to assume food safety is a given, but that mindset creates risk. I see it as my role to promote safety standards and support a strong food safety culture within the business.

Our work touches a diverse range of sectors from healthcare to defence, meaning that the food we produce must be suitable for both the most vulnerable individuals and the most active ones.

One of the most important aspects is to fully understand our supply chain and the origin of every ingredient that comes through our doors. Without that, we risk exposure to undeclared allergens, chemical or physical contaminants, and even fraudulent substitutions.

We complete robust risk assessments which allow us to consider everything that could go wrong, from the things we know are possible like mislabelling to things we may not have considered. That’s why food safety is about more than a checklist, it’s about seeing the big picture.

Knowing the difference between validation and verification! Validating and verifying products and services is a vital part of food safety. 

Validation - If we want to implement a new product or process we need to conduct multiple tests and trials to prove it will work, from testing cooking times to checking cleaning methods. Thinking back to school science it’s essentially hypothesis, experiment, result until we get the desired outcome. That’s validation. 

Verification - is simply the process of checking that it's still working as intended.

If we don't get this right or rush decisions we run the risk of costly or even dangerous errors. We must be able to prove that we have done everything possible to assure the safety of each meal we bring to the market.

Science is such a fantastic topic for this year's food safety day! Science is fundamental to food safety. It's not just about food science, but environmental science and the impact that climate change is having on future security and safety of food.

To ensure food safety we must understand the chemical, physical and biological properties of food and how they change during processing, cooking and over time in storage. This helps us to both develop new products and improve existing ones.

For example, when we consider shelf life we look at how organoleptic attributes (taste, texture, appearance, and smell) change over time. Even something like a high-sugar sauce can draw moisture out of food through osmosis and affect texture. These are the kinds of scientific details we consider when developing dishes to ensure product safety and quality from start to finish.

I’m a complete water baby and love the sea! On holiday, if there’s a water sport available, I'm there. Water skiing, windsurfing, scuba diving, snorkelling, sailing, stand-up paddleboarding, white water rafting... it's another world under the water. I think our seas and oceans are incredible, not just environmentally but as natural forces to respect.

One of my all-time memories is working at a summer camp in Missouri, teaching underprivileged children how to swim and canoe on the Black River, Lesterville. Many of them had never had the opportunity to learn, and feared the water especially if they couldn't touch the ground. Watching them gain confidence in and around the water was incredibly rewarding. I returned years later to see one of them training to become a camp counsellor and was teaching others what she had learnt... I was very proud!

From the science behind safe food to inspiring the next generation of water babies, Corinne’s passion for quality, safety, and people shines through in her role as our Technical Manager. Corinne's answers show that food safety is more than ticking boxes, it’s about constant learning.

With World Food Safety Day on 7th June, we’re proud to champion the people behind our meals, and the science which keeps our meals safe for everyone who enjoys them.

Whether you’re part of the industry or passionate about great food, take a moment to learn more about World Food Safety Day.