PULLMAN, WA – Addressing food safety misinformation and capitalizing on the popularity of podcasts, one Washington State University Extension professor is bringing her food safety message to legions of listeners.

Created by Seattle metro-based educator Susie Craig, “Food Safety in a Minute,” reaches an international audience.

“I want to harness the power of a digital education,” Craig said. “I love food safety and food science, and I’m very interested in encouraging long-term food safety behavior changes.”

The weekly theme of “Food Safety in a Minute” targets a timely food safety topic: holiday dinners, avian influenza, heavy metal exposure in baby foods, and ultra-processed food comprise a few of the more recent and upcoming episodes.

The series launched on Dec. 5, 2018, with an episode titled “Holiday Advice: Food Safety and Buffets.” The production team has never missed posting a weekly Wednesday episode since.

According to the Pew Research Center, podcast popularity in the U.S. has steadily increased since 2013. In 2024, “Food Safety in a Minute” saw a 67% increase in plays. That same year, content aggregator FeedSpot ranked the podcast number three nationally among all food safety podcasts.

“I chose a 60-second format since early trends indicated that people gravitate toward shorter-form video and audio,” Craig said. “While many land-grant universities have topical food safety podcasts, I’m aware of only two offering a regular, ongoing series.”

She credits the podcast’s success to dedicated producers who ensure deadlines are met and audio quality is high.

“The production team behind ‘Food Safety in a Minute’ plays an essential role in transforming my content from the written word into a fully produced podcast,” Craig said. “Because of their ongoing efforts, we are expecting a major jump in listeners in 2025.”

More than 300 episodes are available, and its garnered over 50 thousand plays to date. Listeners tune in from countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and, of course, North America to find out the latest food safety recommendations.

“It’s great working with people who are passionate about what they’re doing, and Susie is super knowledgeable about this topic,” said Matt Ziegler, who has worked on the technical aspects of producing three additional podcasts for WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. “Podcasts can be very efficient at exploring complex topics and communicating important information to a broad audience. ‘Food Safety in a Minute’ is an excellent example of this.”

“If everyone took just 60 minutes to listen to a science- or research-themed podcast while running errands, walking, going to the gym, or doing chores, imagine the benefits to our communities in having a better informed public.”

WSU Professor Susie Craig
“Food Safety in a Minute”

It doesn’t take Craig long to identify a new food safety topic each week.

“It’s easy to find misinformation on social media and other websites,” Craig said. “I hope to be a positive disruptor who makes a meaningful impact on consumers while representing WSU Extension’s online food safety programming.”

“If everyone took just 60 minutes to listen to a science- or research-themed podcast while running errands, walking, going to the gym, or doing chores, imagine the benefits to our communities in having a better informed public.”