NSF International Announces Recipients of the 2008 Food Safety Leadership Awards

NSF International (NSF) announced the 2008 recipients of its Fifth Annual Food Safety Leadership Awards. NSF's Food Safety Leadership Awards Program recognizes key individuals and organizations who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the foodservice industry. 
 
Each year, NSF recognizes groundbreaking food safety achievements. This year, NSF will present two awards for the lifetime achievement, three for the education category, and one for the research advancement, equipment design and product development categories.
 
After reviewing all nominations, an independent panel of food safety experts recognized the following recipients for their groundbreaking achievements:
 
Paul A. Lachance, Ph.D., F.A.C.N., C.N.S.
Lifetime Achievement in Education & Technology

Paul A. Lachance, Ph.D., F.A.C.N., C.N.S. is the founding and emeritus director of the Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Institute of the Center for Advanced Food Technology and professor emeritus of food science at Rutgers University. He has served as chair of the Department of Food Science, faculty representative to the Board of Trustees as well as faculty representative to the Board of Governors of the University.

Dr. Lachance has played a pivotal role in the development of food and nutrition programs for the Manned Spacecraft Center of NASA. He was the first flight food and nutrition coordinator for NASA, where he established the Gemini/Apollo flight food systems and formulated the concept of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) with assistance from the U.S. Army NATICK Laboratories. He is also the recipient of the John C. Harnett Award and an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree from St. Michael's College in Vermont.
 
Daniel L. Engeljohn, Ph.D.
Lifetime Achievement in Public Service

Daniel L. Engeljohn, Ph.D., serves in the senior executive service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the policy office of the department's public health regulatory agency. As deputy assistant administrator, he oversees the risk management activities associated with meat, poultry and processed egg products and leads the strategic planning efforts to develop food safety regulations. Dr. Engeljohn represents Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and is the FSIS spokesperson on food irradiation issues. In addition, he serves as an adjunct assistant professor of nutrition on the graduate faculty at Howard University where he teaches several courses on human nutrition.

Prior to working in the academic field, he worked in the meat grading and food safety programs at USDA for 23 years. He has a Ph.D. in nutrition from Howard University and a master's degree and bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of Illinois, Urbana, where he specialized in human experimental nutrition.
 
National Environmental Health Association
Education and Training

The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) “Epi-Ready Team Training” workshop is a face-to-face training opportunity offered to environmental and other health professionals. The goal of this training is to rapidly identify and investigate a foodborne disease outbreak and implement control measures to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness. The workshop includes lectures and interactive group exercises on passive surveillance, outbreak determination, environmental assessment, epidemiologic investigation, laboratory guidance, concluding actions and food defense. To date, workshops have been conducted in 46 states.
 
Elizabeth A. Bugden, MS
Education and Training

Elizabeth A. Bugden, MS, food scientist, Kids First, managed an initiative to prevent foodborne illness in school children funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The initiative was developed by the Rhode Island Departments of Education and Health Food Safety Leadership Team, which included Ernie Julian, Tom Nerney, Lori Pivarnik, Martha Patnoad, Dorothy Brayley, Sandi Delack, Linda Nightingale Greenwood and Midge Sabatini. For the last seven years, Bugden led this group in developing and distributing 3,500 Food-Safe Schools Action Guides. The guides are now used by school nurses, environmental health specialists, school administrators, foodservice directors and teachers in all 50 states. All components of the Food-Safe Schools Action Guide are available at www.foodsafeschools.org.
 
Jeanne Gleason, Ph.D.
Education and Training

As director of Media Productions at New Mexico State University, Dr. Jeanne Gleason has built a nationally-recognized production center. Dr. Gleason has focused on food safety media production for the last 25 years. Her mission has been to improve food safety practices within the foodservice industry through humor, innovative technology, animation and music. By focusing first and foremost on the audience, Dr. Gleason's team at NMSU's studio has successfully implemented change in behavior and core belief about food safety. Her studio's innovative and multi-lingual food safety education media have won numerous awards including the International Association for Communications Excellence, the USDA Diversity Award and the ACE Harmony Award.
 
Christine Moe, Ph.D.
Research Advancement

Christine Moe, Ph.D., is the Eugene J. Gangarosa professor of safe water and sanitation and director of the Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University. Dr. Moe's research has focused on foodborne and waterborne disease, primarily on noroviruses, the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. Dr. Moe's research team has found that noroviruses are the most infectious human pathogens ever described and can be excreted by infected people for up to a month or longer — even after they no longer have symptoms. These findings provide vital information to the foodservice, hotel, cruise ship and health care industries in efforts to further control and prevent the transmission of noroviruses through food, food handlers, water and environmental surfaces.
 
Sterilox Food Safety Systems
Equipment Design

Sterilox Food Safety Systems has produced a natural, food-safe sanitizer using only water, salt and electricity. Sterilox Solution is used by leading supermarkets and foodservice properties to rinse fresh food products and sanitize food contact surfaces. Using the same natural antimicrobials produced by the human body, Sterilox Solution is highly effective at combating spoilage organisms and harmful pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella, norovirus, H5N1 avian influenza and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
 
Norm Faiola, Ph.D.
Product Development

Norm Faiola, Ph.D., is the associate dean of the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University where he has been a faculty member since 1989. He is also a tenured associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management where he teaches and conducts research related to food safety and hospitality management operations. Dr. Faiola holds patents for several food safety related devices including a rapid food chilling device (Rapi-Kool by SanJamar), an automated stirring station and a wireless temperature monitoring system (Temp-Track by Cooper Atkins). He works closely with several leading manufacturers of food safety and foodservice products to develop new and innovative solutions to address the ongoing challenges facing operators.
 
"NSF International is honored to present the 2008 food safety leadership awards. I look forward to congratulating this year's winners on their outstanding food safety efforts in March," said William Fisher, NSF International vice president. “I would also like to thank our expert panel of jurors for their help in reviewing all award nominations.”
 
This panel included:

• Mary Adolf, president and chief operating officer, National Restaurant Association Education Foundation
• Stan Bailey, president elect, International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), lead scientist and research microbiologist for the USDA, Agricultural Research Service
• John Farquharson, founder of the International Food Safety Council, IFSC president & executive emeritus for ARAMARK Corporation, 2004 FSLA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
• Ernest Julian, Ph.D., chief of the Office of Food Protection for the Rhode Island Department of Health, past chair of the Council of Public Health Consultants for NSF International
• Ellen Laymon, staff supervisor for the Oregon Department of Agriculture Food Safety Division, Serves on the AFDO board. Ms. Layman has also served on the Western Association of Food and Drug Officials Board of Directors as liaison to the AFDO Board of Directors
• Jim Mann, founder of the Handwashing Leadership Forum and creator of Handwashing For Life, winner of the 2005 FSLA Lifetime Achievement Award for Service
• Donald Schaffner, Ph.D., extension specialist in food science and professor at Rutgers University, member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), the Institute of Food Technologists, the Society for Risk Analysis and the American Society for Microbiology
• David M. Theno, Ph.D., senior vice president of quality and logistics for Jack-in-the-Box, member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods. Jack-in-the-Box was awarded the 2005 FSLA Systems Improvement Winner
• Ewen C.D. Todd, Ph.D., director, Food Safety Policy Center at Michigan State University, professor at MSU’s National Food Safety & Toxicology Center, former director of the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, chair of the Committee on Control of Foodborne Illness of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP)