The persisting concerns regarding supplier assurance and food safety has brought about a new era of food safety certification programming.  Many who are involved in the food industry through their plant operations are strongly encouraged to know what is the right thing to do and are constantly perplexed by the challenge of doing things correctly.  Some plant workers, on the other hand, can describe microbiologists as somewhat mystical—and some indeed do so—insofar as microbiologists are able to see and predict microbes that are largely beyond the perceptions of others.  Mr. Rideout will be speaking about how certification programs like Safe Quality Foods (SQF) provides a new lens for those production workers to look at their responsibilities.  While operational personnel must always expect the unexpected, the new approach to certification can provide these workers with additional confidence in their food safety approaches through the use of vigorous food safety verification and validation.  Mr. Rideout will put forward his theory that microbiological problems can be solved in the food safety arena when there is an increased understanding of food safety risk by all in the processing operation.  That risk can and will be mitigated by all food production workers when they take responsibility for and ownership of scientifically based approaches such as those practiced under SQF.