Washington, D.C. – The Cornell University Dairy Foods Extension team received the International Dairy Foods Association’s inaugural Food Safety Leadership Award at Dairy Forum 2017 last week in Orlando, Fla. The award honors an individual, group or organization for demonstrating outstanding leadership directed at enhancing food safety within the dairy products industry.
The team was selected for its comprehensive and innovative approaches to support and improve food safety across the dairy industry, as well as its drive to share cutting-edge research conducted by its world-renowned scientists with the global dairy industry.
“The program’s multidiscipline approach makes it an international leader in dairy food safety,” said John Allan, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards. “The Dairy Foods Extension team goes beyond the lab to offer its expertise both on campus and off. IDFA is honored to award the Cornell Dairy Foods Extension team for leading the way for dairy food safety on so many fronts.”
The members of the team are: Samuel D. Alcaine, assistant professor of dairy fermentations; David M. Barbano, professor and director of the Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center; Carmela Beliciu, dairy extension specialist; Kimberly R. Bukowski, program director; Louise Felker, program coordinator; Nicole Martin, associate director, Milk Quality Improvement Program; Carl Moody, regional dairy processing and marketing specialist; Steven C. Murphy, senior extension associate; Robert D. Ralyea, senior extension associate; Martin Wiedmann, Gellert family professor in food safety; and Anika D. Zuber, regional dairy processing and marketing specialist.
"We are honored to see our team at Cornell recognized and grateful that IDFA and their members have established this new award, which highlights the importance of food safety for the dairy industry and the achievements and efforts of this industry in food safety," said Martin Wiedmann, the project manager, who accompanied Zuber and Alcaine to Orlando to accept the award on behalf of the team.
The Cornell University Dairy Foods Extension team, with the Department of Food Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is a diverse group of faculty and staff with extensive knowledge that spans nearly all aspects of dairy science and technology.
Cornell University began supporting New York’s dairy industry in 1880 as a resource for area farmers, and its Dairy Foods Extension and team have grown to become a respected resource for dairy industry education and business development. The university offers innovative training programs, onsite support to dairy companies and a pilot plant to allow small and start-up dairy companies to learn how to produce products safely.
Photos are available upon request. Contact Marti Hogan, IDFA director of communications, at mhogan@idfa.org.
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of nearly 525 companies within a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's nearly 200 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. Visit IDFA at www.idfa.org.
Source: The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
