What exactly IS a Food Safety A**Hole?

Show Notes

In this kickoff episode, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler pull back the curtain on what it really means to be a “food safety a-hole”—and why that label, while uncomfortable, might actually be a badge of honor. Darin shares his deeply personal origin story: the 1993 E. coli outbreak that took the life of his young son and catapulted him into a decades-long career advocating for safer food practices. The conversation is equal parts heart-wrenching, candid, and oddly funny, as the duo discusses awkward restaurant confrontations, the fine art of speaking up without shaming, and how grief reshapes the kind of person you're willing to become.

This episode isn’t about cooking temps or properly pronouncing bacteria names. It’s about the human stakes behind food safety, the moral calculus of calling things out, and what it means to keep showing up—even when it makes other people uncomfortable. It’s also about nachos. Kind of.

What is Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole?

Confessions of a Food Safety A**Hole is a raw, honest, and surprisingly light listen about a serious subject: the failures that still threaten the safety of the food we eat. Hosted by Dr. Darin Detwiler—a man who turned personal tragedy into decades of public advocacy—and his wife Gennette Zimmer; this podcast pulls no punches. Together, they unpack the moments when speaking up wasn’t popular, but absolutely necessary. From the lens of experiencing every day food safety failures, Darin shares what it’s really like to challenge the system from the inside out.

Equal parts storytelling, reflection, and real talk, Confessions is for anyone who’s ever wondered why preventable tragedies still happen—and what it takes to stop them.

Because silence might be easier, but it’s never safer.