NSF International names winners for 2015 Food Safety Leadership Awards

Rigorous food safety best practices are vital at every point along a supply chain—that’s a point that can never be stressed enough. In part of an ongoing effort to draw attention to that fact, as well as to honor teams and individuals who have strived to keep food safety a part of their core values, yesterday global public health and safety organization NSF International announced the winners of its 2015 Food Safety Leadership Awards.

The Food Safety Leadership Awards took place during the 2015 Food Safety Summit, held this year at the Baltimore Convention Center. The awards recognized individuals and team representing the best of food safety innovation plus food safety training and education. This year’s awards went out to the following leaders found outstanding in their fields:

2015 NSF Food Safety Leadership Awards for Innovation:

• Dr. Robert O’Connor – Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Foster Farms
• US Foods Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) Team
  • Jorge Hernandez, Senior Vice President, FSQA
  • Frank Ferko, Director, Distribution FSQA
  • Jim Sing, Matt Martin, Stephen Posey, Dawn Frider and Charles Clayton, Regional FSQA Managers

2015 NSF Food Safety Leadership Awards for Training and Education:

• Dr. Bob Whitaker – Chief Scientific Officer, Produce Marketing Association
• Peter J. Fulgenzi – Executive Chef, Indiana University Health – North and Saxony Hospitals

Each of these leaders went above and beyond in their fields to earn this recognition. Dr. O’Connor for example was recognized for his ongoing efforts to control and reduce instances of Salmonella, achieving an internal rate of 5 percent or less in raw poultry parts at Foster Farms (five times lower than the industry average), while the FSQA team at US Foods was lauded for encouraging and prioritizing food safety standards and certifications within the third party logistics industry.

“In presenting these awards, we honor the winners for their contributions to food safety and the protection of public health,” said Kevan P. Lawlor, NSF International President and Chief Executive Officer. “The work of Robert O’Connor, Bob Whitaker, Peter Fulgenzi and the US Foods team has contributed to important advances in food safety innovation, research, education and training. Their leadership and enthusiasm in applying science-based methods, information sharing, collaboration and training to solve vital food safety issues embodies the spirit of NSF International’s Food Safety Leadership Awards.”

For more on the awards and this year’s winners, get more in depth here.