Redefining Food Safety in School Nutrition

Jason Schwartz stands out as an experienced leader in foodservice operations. As a Director of Safety and Risk Management at Southwest Foodservice Excellence, he leads safety, and risk management, ensuring school nutrition programs meet the highest standards.

In an exclusive interview with Food Review Magazine, Jason Schwartz shared his views on food safety and how his team ensures it is effectively practiced.

Shaping a Career in Food Safety

I feel like every step in my career has led me to my current role. I’ve always worked in a kitchen in some capacity, starting as a sous chef for a high-end off-premise catering company, then moving into roles as an executive chef, a quality assurance chef, and eventually into operational leadership as a food service director. From there, I transitioned into food safety and compliance as a brand protection and food safety auditor.

These experiences have given me a unique perspective on both culinary excellence and food safety, which taught me how to bridge the gap between creative kitchens and rigorous compliance standards. Each milestone, whether leading teams, auditing facilities, or designing safety systems, prepared me to build a culture of safety and quality at scale. Joining Southwest Foodservice Excellence (SFE) has allowed me to bring that full journey together, aligning my background in scratch cooking and food safety with a mission that prioritizes both student well-being and operational excellence.

Balancing Food Safety and Operational Efficiency

Balancing operational efficiency with uncompromising food safety can be challenging, especially in high-volume environments. For us, the key is making food safety a core value rather than just a requirement. We continually instill in our teams that safety isn’t negotiable—it’s the foundation of everything we do.

Serving a susceptible population of children every day brings a heightened responsibility. We focus on educating our teams on the “why” behind every standard, from temperature checks to allergen controls, so they understand the impact their actions have on student health. When employees know the purpose behind the procedures, compliance improves naturally, and safety becomes part of the culture rather than just another task.

This approach allows us to achieve efficiency without sacrificing quality or safety—because everyone is aligned on the same priority of protecting the students we serve.

Blending creativity with food safety

Creativity in the kitchen should never compromise food safety. In fact, we’ve built innovation into our DNA, and we’re always looking for ways to improve our offerings and elevate how school meals are presented to students. The key is ensuring that safety is integrated into the creative process from the very beginning.

Our safety team works closely with our culinary and marketing teams so that every new recipe or menu concept is evaluated for compliance as it’s being developed. This collaboration allows us to explore new flavors and presentations while maintaining strict adherence to HACCP protocols and allergen controls. We also leverage digital tools for recipe management and allergen tracking to maintain consistency and safety across multiple sites.

By aligning creativity with safety, we can give students menus that feel fresh and exciting—while parents, schools, and regulators can be confident that every meal meets the highest safety standards.

Key Strategies for Food Safety Culture

The most effective strategy for building a strong safety culture is making food safety personal and purposeful. We remind teams that every procedure, whether checking temperatures or managing allergens, directly impacts the health of students, one of the most vulnerable populations we serve. This shifts food safety from being seen as a rule to being embraced as a shared responsibility.

We’ve leveled the playing field for knowledge by requiring all managers to hold ServSafe Manager Certification and encouraging frontline employees to earn food handler certification. This ensures additional training reinforces existing knowledge rather than introducing it for the first time. Our culinary leaders are certified to proctor and instruct ServSafe courses, keeping training in-house and accessible.

Beyond certification, we emphasize reinforcement, daily reminders in pre-shift huddles, visual cues in kitchens, and recognition for excellence. Digital monitoring tools like automated temperature logs further support a culture where compliance is seamless and transparent.

Solving Challenges with Diverse Expertise

My background across hospitality, IT, and operations gives me the ability to understand what is happening in the moment while anticipating what could happen next. From hospitality, I learned to prioritize guest experience and detail, from IT, to leverage data and technology to streamline processes and from operations, to scale solutions and manage resources in high-volume settings.

This combination allows me to approach food safety and compliance challenges holistically, balancing immediate issues, risks, and cross-department impact. The result is innovative yet practical solutions that ensure strict safety standards while improving how we serve students.

Emerging Trends in Food Safety Management

Food safety management is evolving rapidly as technology, public health, and sustainability priorities intersect. We’re seeing a shift from reactive approaches to predictive and data-driven systems. AI and real-time monitoring are enabling early detection of risks like temperature deviations or potential contamination—before they become incidents.

There is also growing emphasis on digital traceability and transparency. Blockchain and integrated record keeping give clear visibility from supplier to serving line, making recalls faster and allergen communication more accurate.

Sustainability goals are influencing safety practices as well, with waste reduction, eco-friendly packaging, and donation programs requiring updated protocols to ensure both safety and environmental responsibility.

Finally, food safety training is becoming more continuous and engaging through microlearning, scenario-based simulations, and personalized refreshers based on audit data. Together, these trends are creating safer, more sustainable food programs that also build trust with families and communities—especially important in school foodservice settings.

Essential Insights for Food Safety Leaders

For anyone stepping into a new food safety leadership role, the most important thing is to remember your roots. It’s easy to get caught up in rules, regulations, and compliance demands, but your greatest impact comes from connecting those standards to real-world operations and people. Draw on your own experiences to shape your leadership style, and stay relatable to your team. Without that connection, driving meaningful change becomes an uphill battle.

At the same time, focus on building a strong culture of food safety from day one. Understand your operation’s workflows, identify high-risk points, and make safety practices simple and repeatable.

Leverage technology to streamline monitoring and documentation, but don’t lose sight of the human side—clear communication, trust, and training which turn policies into daily habits. Ultimately, staying grounded, flexible, and proactive will help you lead effectively as standards and expectations continue to evolve.