Sani Professional Food Safety Advisory Council Adds New Members

The Sani Professional Food Safety Advisory Council (SPFSAC) has added three new board members. Joining Mick Miklos, of the National Restaurant Association, Clement Saseun, of DineEquity, Belicia Parga of Whataburger and Stefano Caliguiri of MGM Resorts and Chair of the Nevada Food Safety Task Force are Chirag Bhatt of Bloomin' Brands Inc., Hal King, CEO/Founder, Public Health Innovations LLC and Michael Moomjian of P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc..

Chirag Bhatt has been involved in the food safety industry for more than 30 years. After a 26 year tenure working with the Houston Health Department's food safety inspection program he worked with a custom software company as a VP, Food Safety and Client Consulting.  In July 2012, Chirag joined Bloomin' Brands as their Global Regulatory Compliance Manager. He is responsible for making sure that the Bloomin' Brands restaurants comply with the local/state and federal food safety requirements.  Bloomin' Brands has more than 1500 locations that include Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar). Chirag holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Chemistry. He also holds several key memberships in the food safety industry - NEHA, AFDO, IAFP, NRA, NCCR and CFP. He is a registered sanitarian with the state of Texas and also holds -- Certified Comprehensive Food Safety credential from NEHA. Currently, Chirag serves as Chair for National Restaurant Association Quality Assurance Executive Study Group. Chirag also serves on the Educational Advisory Board with the Food Safety Summit.

Hal King is founder/CEO of Public Health Innovations LLC, a new company that consults and partners with the foodservice industry in the design and development of intervention strategies to prevent diseases in the food industry, in healthcare, in schools, and in other public environments. King, a public health professional has worked in the investigation of foodborne and other diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U. S. Public Health Service), performed funded research on causation of diseases (Emory University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases), worked in the prevention of intentional adulteration of foods (U.S. Army Reserves Consequence Management Unit), and worked in the design and implementation of preventative controls for food safety hazards in the food industry. Previously, King was the Director of Food and Product Safety at Chick-fil-A Inc. (a national restaurant chain with over 1,920 units)  He led and implemented Chick-fil-A's food safety management program.  Additionally, King is past Chairman of the National Restaurant Association Quality Assurance Executive Study Group, past board member on the FDA and CDC Industry Partnerships.  He co-authored several food safety articles including two research publications on new systems for produce safety in retail, and is the author of the book, Food Safety Management: Implementing a Food Safety Program in a Food Retail Business (Springer).

Michael Moomjian is a Quality Assurance and Food Safety professional with almost 20 years of progressive experience in the food industry at the QA, food safety, and nutrition, R&D, manufacturing, and purchasing levels.  He is currently the Director of Quality Assurance and Food Safety for P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc., a 462 unit full service and fresh casual chain, consisting of the P.F. Chang's, Pei Wei, and True Foods brands.  Moomjian received his B.S. degree in Food Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  Prior to P.F. Chang's, he served in various QA/Purchasing/Nutritional roles at several multi-unit national chains including Boston Market, Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, CKE Restaurants, and Jack-In-The-Box.

Sani Professional, the food safety division of Professional Disposables International (PDI), and the Sani Professional Food Safety Advisory Council continue to recognize the critical nature of food safety in today's broader foodservice industry. It seems weekly there is an outbreak of one foodborne illness or another from restaurants to food processing facilities.  The SPFSAC is dedicated to raising awareness of best practices in the prevention of foodborne illness across a broad spectrum of foodservice operations and food processing facilities via education and solution support.