WASHINGTON —Edith Wilkin of Leprino Foods Company received the International Dairy Foods Association’s (IDFA) 2020 Food Safety Leadership Award during IDFA’s Dairy Forum today in Scottsdale, Arizona. The award, now in its fourth year, honors an individual, group or organization for demonstrating outstanding leadership directed at enhancing food safety within the dairy products industry. Edith is Staff Vice President and Fellow, Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance, for Leprino Foods in Denver, Colorado.
“Edith not only served as chair of the Food Safety Initiative with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy during its inception, she also led, developed and published traceability standards for dairy processors that have become the gold standard across the industry,” said John Allan, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards. “Edith is a unique and influential food safety expert who shares her knowledge and science-based food safety insights with colleagues and mentees across the dairy industry. IDFA is proud to present this year’s Food Safety Leadership Award to Edith Wilkin.”
Previous recipients of the award are Rich and Heather Draper of The Ice Cream Club, Inc. (2019); Brian Kraus, director of food safety and regulatory compliance, Wells Enterprises, Inc. (2018); and the Cornell University Dairy Foods Extension team (2017).
A call for nominations for the 2021 Food Safety Leadership Award will be released this summer.