As the last week in June came to an end, on the precipice of a holiday weekend, I found myself wondering if my phone would ring late Friday afternoon. And, it did.

It wasn’t a relative seeking to catch up, or a neighbor telling me I had left the sprinkler on, or a telemarketer seeking to sell me an extended warranty on my brand-new car. Rather, as suspected, it was a client, calling not to wish me and Jessica a Happy Fourth of July weekend, but rather to brainstorm and spitball about a potential food safety and quality issue that had just surfaced. And, so, we chatted at length about the issue, and whether the weekend plans (for me, my food industry client, and my client’s customers) would be flipped upside down because of a potential recall.

Fortunately, after some very careful consideration, we determined (and were comfortable) that the issue fell squarely within the definition of a “quality” (not a “food safety”) issue, and the decision was collectively made (appropriately) to leave the product in the market. Thus, a potential disaster was averted.

While Saturday was rather quiet (having exchanged only a couple client emails), and yesterday (Sunday) remained calm, I am waiting in suspense for the phone to start ringing off the hook sometime today, most likely in early afternoon. Indeed, somewhere in the U.S. there will be a food safety professional who either: (1) received a number of customer complaints regarding an offending food safety issue; (2) received a call from a colleague who just learned that two pallets of product on a food safety hold had been mistakenly released, or (3) received notification from USDA or FDA that the agency suspects the company’s products are associated with an emerging foodborne illness cluster.

As I look back over the past number of years, I don’t think I’ve experienced a single Fourth of July holiday where I hadn’t spent at least a few hours helping a client navigate a significant food safety issue. Usually, I try to schedule the calls between lunch and the traditional barbeque dinner. And, in most cases, as evening begins to set in, the dishes are cleared, and the kids find themselves roasting marshmallows on the fire, the issue is resolved and a peaceful calm sets in.

What this reminds me of, on the eve of the Fourth of July, is that we are all on the same team, and were look out for one another. All of us are willing, in a heartbeat, to drop our plans and rush to our phones to protect the public health and, by doing so, protect each other.

Food safety professionals are some of the kindest, most humble, and most caring people I know. I am proud to be part of your team — and I am proud, when things get rough, to stand squarely by your side.

So, keep up the great work, my friends. And, to the greatest extent possible, enjoy your Fourth of July. You definitely deserve it!

And, if the phone rings, please feel free to call; I’ve already blocked off the entire afternoon.

HAPPY FOURTH TO YOU ALL!

No vacations for food safety professionals ...

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