Ellen Shumaker, PhD

Bio

Dr. Ellen Shumaker is the Director of Outreach for the Safe Plates program, NC State Extension’s evidence-based food safety programming. In this role, she develops programs and resources for retail, community and consumer food safety. She also designs, implements, and evaluates a variety of food safety messages throughout the farm to fork continuum to impact food handling behavior for both retail and consumers. Dr. Shumaker is particularly interested in the intersection between communication, microbiology, and human behavior. She is active in the International Association for Food Protection and the Conference for Food Protection.

Programs and Initiatives

• Safe Plates Food Safety Information Center
• Safe Plates for Food Managers
• Safe Plates for Food Handlers
• Retail HACCP and Variances

Contributing Websites

• https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/

Selected Publications

• Shumaker, E., Kirchner, M., Cates, S., Shelley, L., Goulter, R., Goodson, L., Bernstein, C., Lavallee, A., Jaykus, L., Chapman, B. (2022). An Observational Study of the Impact of a Food Safety Intervention on Consumer Poultry Washing. Journal of Food Protection. doi: https://doi.org/10.4315/JFP-21-397
• Ruzante, J. M., Shumaker, E. T., Holt, S., Mayer, S., Kokotovich, A., Cuchiara, M., Binder, A. R., Kuzma, J., & Grieger, K. (2022). Eliciting stakeholder perceptions using a novel online engagement platform: A case study on nano-agrifoods. RTI Press. RTI Press Occasional Paper No. OP-0071-2201 https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2022.op.0071.2201
• Duong, M., Shumaker, E.T., Cates, S., Shelley, L., Goodson, L., Bernstein, C., Lavallee, A., Kirchner, M., Goulter, R., Jaykus, L., & Chapman, B. (2020). An observational study of thermometer use by consumers when preparing ground turkey patties. Journal of Food Protection, 83(7), 1167–1174. https://doi.org/10.4315/JFP-19-594
• Shumaker, E. T., Doherty, I., Sifleet, S., Chapman, B., Pierce, A., Ham, M., & Kowalcyk, B. (2019). Risk factors for foodborne illness in temporary eating establishments in North Carolina. Food Protection Trends, 39(3), 218–224.
  https://www.foodprotection.org/publications/food-protection-trends/archive/2019-05-risk-factors-for-foodborne-illness-in-temporary-eating-establishments-in-north-carolina
• Smolinski, H. S., Wang, S., Ren, L., Chen, Y., Kowalcyk, B., Thomas, E., van Doren, J., Ryser, E. T. (2018). Transfer and redistribution of salmonella typhimurium lt2 and Escherichia coli o157:h7 during pilot-scale processing of baby spinach, cilantro, and romaine lettuce. Journal of Food Protection, 81(6), 953–962. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-17-420
• Thomas, E. M., Binder, A. R., McLaughlin, A., Jaykus, L-A., Hanson, D., Powell, D., & Chapman, B. (2016). Assessment of risk communication about undercooked hamburgers by restaurant servers. Journal of Food Protection, 79(12), 2113–2118. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-065
• Thomas, E., Chapman, B., Jaykus, L., & Phister, T. (2014). Tracing temperature patterns of cut leafy greens during service. Journal of Food Protection, 9, 1495–1500. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-14-121

Area(s) of Expertise

• Consumer Food Safety
• Retail Food Safety
• Food Safety Culture
• Risk Communication