OAKDALE, Minn. — QualiTru Sampling Systems (formerly known as QMI) is commemorating its 40th year of innovations that it said have helped the dairy and liquid food industries produce safe, high-quality products over the decades.
The company, originally known as QMI, was established in 1983 by Darrell Bigalke, a dairy microbiologist and entrepreneur. Bigalke, who had previously managed the dairy microbiology lab at Ecolab, acquired the manufacturing rights to a sterile sampling septum that complemented and augmented his dairy food safety consulting business. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the dynamics of microbial contamination, he focused his new company on the singular mission of promoting the unique practice of inline aseptic sampling for the dairy industry.
In 1985, when serious outbreaks of dairy-related foodborne illnesses caused by Salmonella and Listeria sickened thousands of people in the U.S., Bigalke played a central role in helping shape the establishment and adoption of the new sampling standards in the dairy industry. Bigalke, the dairy industry, and key regulatory bodies all shared the same goal: to initiate process monitoring measures to reduce the chances of future foodborne illness outbreaks in the dairy industry.
Latest from Quality Assurance & Food Safety
- FDA Releases Produce Regulatory Program Standards
- Invest in People or Risk the System: Darin Detwiler and Catalyst Food Leaders on Building Real Food Safety Culture
- USDA Proposes Increasing Poultry, Pork Line Speeds
- FDA Releases New Traceability Rule Guidance
- TraceGains and iFoodDS Extend Strategic Alliance
- bioMérieux Launches New Platform for Spoiler Risk Management
- SafetyChain Receives SOC 2 Type 2 Certification
- Puratos Acquires Pennsylvania-Based Vör Foods
