Joe Stout is known in the industry for his work in sanitation and hygienic design as the Director of Global Product Protection, Sanitation and Hygienic Design for Kraft Foods. Joe was with Kraft for 30 years and during that time held a variety of positions in quality, and sanitation. While at Kraft in his Product Protection role, he had responsibility for global plant cleaning controls and processes, including allergen / pathogen control programs and pest control. Also in his scope was the responsibility for hygienic design for facilities and equipment used in Kraft plants to assure the equipment and facilities were cleanable and effectively cleaned.

Following retirement from Kraft in 2010 Joe founded Commercial Food Sanitation (CFS) began consulting for the food industry – essentially doing for the Food Industry what he did at Kraft. Since then the company has grown to 33 members and has merged into the Intralox Company.

Joe has been active in sanitation controls and sanitary design of equipment and facilities, for dairy, meat, produce and low moisture foods for many years. He led the American Meat Institute's Equipment Design Task Force, which won the Industry Advancement Award. He is the Founder of the GMA Sanitary Design Working Group and developed the training course “Sanitary Design for Allergen & Pathogen Control for Low Moisture Foods”. This is held annually since 2009 and just celebrated a 10 year anniversary.

Presentation: Perspectives on Ensuring Food Safety through Sanitation

Dr. Michelle Kromm is a board-certified poultry veterinarian and the VP of Animal Health and Welfare at Jennie-O Turkey Store. She completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Iowa State and concurrently completed a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Iowa. Upon graduation, Michelle packed her bags and headed south to the University of Georgia to complete a Master’s in Avian Medicine. Michelle joined Jennie-O in 2007 as a staff veterinarian. In her current role Michelle supports the animal welfare, antibiotic stewardship and preharvest food safety programs at Jennie-O. Most recently, Michelle has served as a scientific advisor and external affairs liaison for Hormel and Jennie-O’s joint COVID19 response.

Presentation: A Holistic Approach to Salmonella

Dr. Barb Masters is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food and Agriculture at Tyson Foods, Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support for food safety and quality policies and procedures. She serves on the Board of Directors for GFSI and the Partnership for Food Safety Education.

Dr. Masters spent nine years as a Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda, where she worked closely to advise with the meat and poultry industry to ensure regulatory compliance. She served as Administrator of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service where she established a solid infrastructure of science-based policies and data analysis to reduce foodborne illness and product recalls. Dr. Masters holds her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Mississippi State University and a Food Animal Internship from Kansas State University.

Presentation: Food Safety During a Pandemic - Virtual Audits and Maintaining Systems

Curtis Pittman is the Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance with Harris Ranch Beef Company and oversees the systems designed protect our product, our brand, and our customers. He joined the Harris Ranch team in 2013 as a Food Safety Manager after completing degrees from The Ohio State University and Colorado State University.

Curtis has grown to believe that leadership, education, and empowerment proactively protects our consumers, our industry, and our future. He is an avid learner, wood-worker, and jiu-jitsu practitioner. He lives in Visalia with his lovely wife, Meagan, and rambunctious son, Colter.

Presentation: Practical Approaches to Zero Tolerance

Born and raised in northern Kansas on livestock production and grain farm. Attended Kansas StateUniversity received a B.S. in Microbiology. Graduated from the University of Nebraska VeterinarySciences department studying molecular mechanisms intestinal pathogens in swine. Received M.S.and PhD. Research scientist at USDA/ARS MARC in the area of preharvest food safety focused on interventions and field epidemiology specific to E. coli O157:H7 in beef cattle. Senior microbiologistNeogen Corporation in the development of food safety diagnostics. USDA/ARS in the area of antimicrobial resistance College Station, TX. Currently the Sr. Director of HACCP/Food Safetyand Regulatory Compliance with Seaboard Triumph Foods.

Presentation: Bullet Session

Dr. Kaitlyn Compart is the Director of Scientific Affairs for Smithfield Foods. She and her team oversee the chemistry and microbiology laboratories as well as the shelf life, sensory, and challenge study programs for Smithfield. As part of this role she also provides technical and research guidance to Smithfield’s foods safety and quality teams, their manufacturing facilities, and key customers. Kaitlyn attended the University of Kentucky for her BS and MS in Animal and Food Science and the University of Minnesota for her Ph.D., focused on lipid oxidation and composition of further process meat products. Kaitlyn joined Smithfield in 2014 and is based in the Cincinnati, OH corporate office.

Presentation: Post Lethality Controls and Considerations for Processed Products

Jeff Sindelar is an Associate Professor and Extension Meat Specialist in the department of Animal Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science with a meats emphasis from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1999, a Master of Science in Animal Science/Meat Science at Michigan State University in 2002, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Meat Science at Iowa State University in 2006. In 2007 Jeff joined the Department of Animal Sciences and was promoted as Associate Professor with tenure in Fall of 2012. Jeff joined the Food Research Institute in 2009 as an Affiliate Faculty and has served on their Executive committee since 2012. In his University of Wisconsin faculty capacity, Jeff provides assistance to meat processors in the areas of product development, problem solving and regulatory compliance. He also coordinates Meat Science workshops and training programs, and provides involvement and support to youth Meat Science related activities. Jeff also conducts research on quality and sensory characteristics of processed meats, non-meat ingredient functionality in meat products, and intervention strategies to control pathogenic bacteria in meat products. His research program thrusts have focused on food safety investigations regarding thermal processing, alternative curing, and other relevant processed meat food safety technologies and strategies. He holds 1 patent; has published 7 monographs/book/book chapters, over 30 refereed journal articles, and over 85 abstracts. Jeff has also given over 550 presentations on various Meat Science and Food Safety topics.

Presentation: Cooling Deviations and Pathogen Modeling

Dr. Angie Siemens is the Vice President of Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory for Cargill in Wichita, Kansas. She is responsible for food safety issues and quality management systems and processes in approximately 40 beef, turkey, egg, case-ready and processing facilities in North America. She also oversees the food safety issues of meat co-packers and meat and ingredient suppliers. Angie served as BIFSCo Chairman in 2014/15. Prior to her tenure at Cargill, she worked as Vice President of Food Safety and Technical Services for Smithfield Packing Company in Smithfield, Virginia. Angie also worked at the Oscar Mayer Foods Division of Kraft Foods in Madison, Wisconsin, and Beatrice Cheese. She served a year as a Congressional Science Fellow to the US House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC. The National Provisioner named Angie as one of 25 Future Icons. Angie received a Ph.D. in Meat Science and M.S. in Animal Science from the University of Missouri, Columbia and a B.S. in Animal Science from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. She received the 2010 Purdue University College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumni award. Angie grew up on a diversified grain and livestock family farm in eastern Indiana, and participated in 4-H, FFA and livestock judging. Angie is married to Dr. Mike Siemens, Vice President Business Development, Arrowsight Global Agribusiness and they have one son, Nicholas (age 17).

Presentation: A Look into Alternative STEC Testing

Matt Henderson has worked with Land O’ Frost for the past eighteen years in multiple roles across the organization focused on food safety. As Sanitation Manager and Food Safety Manager, his job functions included managing the sanitation process, managing Listeria sampling programs, and chairing the Seek and Destroy and Facility Design Teams. In his current role as Director of Food Safety, Matt is responsible for leading the ongoing continuous improvement of food safety systems at Land O’ Frost. Matt graduated from Arkansas Tech University with a Bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness and Michigan State University with a Master’s Degree in Food Safety.

Presentation: The Role of Risk Assessments in Addressing Foreign Material

Dr. Randy Phebus is from Waverly, Tennessee, a small town 70 miles west of Nashville. He attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from 1981-1992, earning B.S. (Animal Science), M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (Food Science). Dr. Phebus joined the K-State ASI department in 1992 and has a 30% teaching and 70% research appointment within the Food Science discipline group. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses in Food Science and is active in the distance learning Global Campus Food Science program and student recruitment. He specializes in food microbiology, food safety, food biosecurity and defense, and public health. Dr. Phebus coordinates an active applied food safety research program. He is a member of the K-State Food Science Institute, currently serving as its Interim Director. Dr. Phebus holds graduate faculty status in Food Science, Animal Sciences, and Pathobiology. He works closely with food processors, regulators, and technology providers across the country to improve food quality and safety through laboratory-based and processing-based research and troubleshooting activities. Recently, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture appointed him to the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection.

Presentation: Salmonella in Pork and Intervention Study Update

Sherri attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado and graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Equine Science and a minor in Anatomy and Neurobiology. Sherri continued on with her coursework as a graduate student in the Meat Science program where she graduated in 1996 with a Master of Science in Animal Science – Meat Microbiology. Sherri has worked in the beef industry since graduating from Colorado State University in 1996. She has over 20 years of experience in the food safety and quality assurance and animal handling areas and has held varying positions as a HACCP/QA Superintendent, Quality Assurance Manager, and a Corporate Director of Food Safety. Sherri worked for Swift & Company from 1996 to 2007, when she joined Food Safety Net Services as the VP of Auditing and Consulting Services. In 2010, Sherri returned to JBS as a corporate Director for Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs for the beef division. Currently, she is the Head of Technical Services for JBS Regional Beef, in that capacity she has responsibility for five (5) facilities across the US in the areas of regulatory affairs, food safety, and quality assurance of the products that those facilities produce to include animal handling. Sherri has been a member of the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) since 2014.

Presentation: Bullet Session

Suzanne is responsible for leading the Food Safety & Quality Assurance Team Members within the poultry segment. In this role, Suzanne provides thought leadership and strategy, including policies and programs designed to ensure regulatory and specification compliance, drive continuous improvement, as well as ensure technical support to the sales team in managing customer expectations. Her team works collaboratively with the business to identify and mitigate risk to the brand and consistently deliver to expected food safety and quality metrics.

Prior to her current role, Suzanne held several positions related to regulatory compliance across the enterprise. This includes responsibility for food safety and quality initiatives related to contract manufacturers and direct material suppliers. Before joining Tyson in 1997, she worked for another integrator on the live side of poultry operations.

Suzanne earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University and her Master of Science degree from the University of Arkansas. She actively serves as a member of the BRC’s International Advisory Board as well as the Technical Advisory Committee. She is a past co-chair of the North American Meat Institute’s Food Safety and Inspection Affairs Committee. Suzanne holds multiple professional certifications including the American Society for Quality’s Certified Quality Auditor and Certified HACCP Auditor.

Presentation: Lessons Learned from Performance Standards in Poultry

Clarissa Moreaux serves as NAMI’s Director of Regulatory Services where she provides expertise on a variety of topics. Prior to joining NAMI, Clarissa began her regulatory career in 2010 as an Enforcement Investigation Analysis Officer (EIAO) for the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) where she enforced FSIS regulatory requirements. She later moved on to work for the industry and has experience with product labeling, both USDA and FDA food safety systems, 3rd party audit standards, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Clarissa has a Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutritional Sciences from Fresno State University of California. She is HACCP certified and a Preventative Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI).

Presentation: Analyzing and Responding to FSIS Regulatory Actions

Roya Galindo serves as NAMI’s director of regulatory services. She first began her career in 2005 when she was one of the first successful consumer safety inspector interns (CSI) to complete the internship program for the Food Safety and Inspection Service. She worked as a CSI for a few years until she was quickly promoted to an Enforcement Investigation Analysis Officer (EIAO). After mentoring many of the EIAOs, Galindo switched gears and worked for the industry managing and refining establishment’s food safety systems. Galindo’s extensive background in industry and regulations allows her to provide the members with guidance on a wide array of subjects.

Presentation: Analyzing and Responding to FSIS Regulatory Actions

Norm Robertson serves as NAMI's vice president of regulatory services. Prior to joining NAMI, Robertson served as the Executive Associate Director of Regulatory Issues at the North American Meat Association (NAMA), where he managed a highly skilled Regulatory Services staff. He began his career as a Slaughter Food Inspector and was promoted to an off line processing position and then to a Consumer Safety Inspector position. In 2001, Robertson was selected as one of two individuals to be promoted to the position of Consumer Safety Officer (CSO), now referred to as an Enforcement Investigation and Analysis Officer (EIAO), in the Alameda District. After working for almost two years as a CSO, he was selected to be a Frontline Supervisor (FLS) in Vernon and then Petaluma, California, and finally as the District Case Specialist in the Alameda District. Robertson participated in national level workgroups and assisted in the official classroom training of subsequent EIAO classes during his time at USDA. Robertson’s experience working at various levels of USDA has provided him with a detailed and thorough understanding of how the regulatory Agency operates, which adds a strong regulatory skill set to help our general members navigate the regulatory environment.

Presentation: Cooling Deviations and Pathogen Modeling

James Wilson has worked at National Beef from 2006 as the Director of Technical Services. Part of his role at National Beef is helping to assure the National Beef plants have a nightly sanitation program that performs at a high level. James started working in the industry loading trucks out of the freezer in 1989 for IBP in Louisa County, IA. Since 1992 he has spent a lot of time performing pre-op inspection, working 3rd shift learning the clean-up process, working with sanitation contractors and chemical providers. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1990 and earned his MBA from Southwest College (KS) in 2007.

Presentation: Perspectives on Ensuring Food Safety through Sanitation

Lori began her career in the food industry when working at a steak cutting operation while pursuing her under graduate degree. She subsequently spent 20 years in meat processing facilities, a majority of the time in operational management.

Lori obtained an MBA from Colorado State University in 2006. She began working for FSNS C&A in 2007 as an auditor and was subsequently promoted to her current role as SVP of Audit Services. With a strong background in the meat industry Lori has lead the FSNS C&A audit team and supported facilities across the industry.

As SVO of Audit Services she is responsible for maintaining the integrity of FSNS C&A audit and certification programs, developing and implementing new programs and procedures, training new employees, and oversight of FSNS C&A’s Certification Body.

Presentation: Food Safety During a Pandemic - Virtual Audits and Maintaining Systems

Dr. Wang joined the U.S Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) at USDA in 2010 as a research microbiologist after his postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Health. At USMARC, Dr. Wang has investigated STEC/Salmonella biofilm formation, sanitizer effectiveness against pathogen biofilms, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying strong biofilm formation and high sanitization tolerance. He also conducted research to address the challenges of bacterial coexistence and the resultant multispecies biofilms, which has been recognized as a potential food safety concern. His recent studies suggest that bacterial biofilms and sanitizer tolerance might play roles in product contamination at meat processing plants, such as the “High Event Period” O157 trim contamination, and that the unique environmental microbial community might influence pathogen tolerance, survival, and prevalence. These studies may help develop strategies for the meat industry to reduce the risk of product contamination by common foodborne pathogens.

Presentation: Bacterial Community Work and Pathogen Prevalence

Heather Kittrell, DVM, Ph.D., is the Director of Veterinary Services at Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri. She is responsible for regulatory and non-regulatory laboratory testing and analysis and works with both the USDA and producer veterinarians. After graduating high school, Dr. Kittrell served 15 years in the military prior to pursuing a DVM at LSU. Throughout vet school she focused on food animal medicine, specifically beef and swine. After practicing for 2 years, she attended ISU for a Ph.D. in Population Sciences in Animal Health. She and her husband live in Lawson, Missouri with their two sons.

Presentation: Practical Approaches to Zero Tolerance

Beth DeWitt graduated from Purdue University in 2004 with a B.S. in Animal Science. Upon graduation, she began work as a Quality Assurance Technician at ConAgra Foods (now Smithfield), in Peru, Indiana, making RTE microwave bacon. After two years, Beth took a job with Purdue University at the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, where she worked as a bacteriologist.

While the experience of working in the diagnostic lab was valuable, Beth’s passion was working in the food industry as she truly enjoys searching for Listeria and niche areas to help keep our food as safe as possible. She returned to the Peru, IN facility as a Quality Supervisor/HACCP Coordinator, eventually moving up to become the facility’s Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager. In 2015, Beth was promoted to a corporate role, where she oversees the food safety of multiple Smithfield facilities in addition to managing the quality for Nathan’s franks and Eckrich Smoked Sausage.

Presentation: Post Lethality Controls and Considerations for Processed Products

Noelle Noyes is Assistant Professor in the Veterinary Population Medicine Department at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA. Dr. Noyes’ current research focuses on advancing the understanding of pathogens, antimicrobial resistance and microbial ecology, with the ultimate goal of optimizing livestock production, public health, and food safety and security. Noelle was a USDA NIFA Post-Doctoral Fellow and an NIH T32 Pre-Doctoral Fellow. She was recipient of the German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and received her MA from Osnabrueck University and her BA from Amherst College. Noelle completed a dual-degree PhD-DVM program at Colorado State University before joining University of Minnesota faculty. Currently, her lab is conducting studies on microbiome, pathogen and antibiotic resistance issues related to livestock production and food safety, with funding from USDA, NIH, FMPRE, NPB, NCBA and the University of Minnesota.

Presentation: Pathogens, Pipelines and Phylogenomcis: Evaluating the Computational Protocols Used to Identify Foodborne Outbreaks from WGS Data

Dr. Dayna Harhay is a Research Microbiologist for the USDA, Agricultural Research Service at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska. Working in the Meat Safety and Quality Research Unit at the USMARC since 2005, her primary research contributions include: developing high-throughput methods for measuring Salmonella levels on hides, carcasses, and in feces of cattle in pre and post-harvest settings; characterizing multi-drug resistant Salmonella populations associated with cattle at harvest in the U.S.; and defining routes of Salmonella contamination in the beef processing continuum, including recent work defining Salmonella contamination of bovine peripheral lymph nodes as a possible source of Salmonella in ground beef. More recent research endeavors include genomic sequencing of clinically important S. enterica serotypes that have been isolated from cattle at harvest, in order to identify molecular targets for rapid diagnostic test development. Dr. Harhay has also served as a member of the Salmonella Working groups of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the North American Meat Institute.

Presentation: Tools for a Risk-based Approach for the Control of Salmonella in Beef Products

Zach Cameron is the Senior FSQA Regulatory Manager for the Tyson Fresh Meats Division. He is responsible for supporting the development of the Fresh Meats Regulatory Corporate over-sight, in-plant HACCP/Food Safety professionals and providing regulatory support throughout the beef, pork, and protein portioned innovation divisions. Previously, Zach served as FSQA Manager, HACCP supervisor and production supervisor positions at the Tyson beef facility in Joslin, IL. Zach earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign prior to starting his career in the meat industry with IBP.

In addition to his Tyson responsibilities, Zach has provided assistance in the revision of BIFSCO guidance documents and worked with numerous other members within NAMI to provide regulatory assistance to the meat industry.

Presentation: Bullet Session

Katie Hanigan is the Vice President of Food Safety and Quality of the Fresh Pork Division for Smithfield Foods. Katie has 38+ years of industry experience which includes an extensive background in food safety, quality and laboratory systems. Katie served as the Chairman of the American Meat Institute Inspection Committee and was a past appointee to the Secretary of Agriculture’s Food Safety Committee. Katie is an active participant on National Pork Board and North American Meat Institute committees that address industry initiatives and concerns. Katie earned her undergraduate Science Degrees from Iowa State University and her MBA from Bellevue University.

Presentation: Food Safety During a Pandemic - Virtual Audits and Maintaining Systems

Dr. Thippareddi is the John Bekkers Professor of Poultry Processing and Safety in the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. In his current role, he teaches and conducts research on poultry processing and its effects on poultry quality, yield and other characteristics and on improving the microbiological quality and safety of poultry.

Previously, he was a Professor and Food Safety Extension Specialist at University of Nebraska, Lincoln in the Department of Food Science and Technology. In this role, he assisted food processors on food safety and microbial shelf life issues in Nebraska and throughout the U.S. He has been awarded the “Harry L. Rudnick Award” by North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) for his service to the meat and poultry industry.

His research and outreach programs focused on a variety of microbiological food safety issues related to meat and poultry products as well as other foods, including low moisture/water activity foods. He has published extensively in applied food safety research focused on mitigating the risk of foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and other Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STECs) in beef and beef products, Listeria monocytogenes control in RTE meat processing environment and products, growth of foodborne pathogens on meat animal carcasses during chilling, Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs during cooling and Clostridium perfringens during cooling of cooked, ready-to-eat meat and poultry products.

He is an active member of Poultry Science Association (PSA), Institute of Food Technologists, American Meat Science Association (AMSA), American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) and is a member of several scientific organizations.

Presentation: Use of Dynamic Predictive Models for S. aureus to Evaluate the Microbiological Safety of Heating Process Deviations

Tim Strittmatter is the Vice President of Food Safety and Quality Assurance at Clemens Food Group with oversite of the FSQA Quality and Food Safety Programs as well as Sanitation for the CFG facilities. He began his career as a FSQA Supervisor on night shift with Tyson Foods in 2004 at Lexington, Ne. Over the last 16 years, he has worked in multiple Beef and Pork Complex plants in various FSQA roles including HACCP Supervisor, FSQA Supervisor and FSQA Manager. Prior to his current role, Tim held various roles at the cooperate level with Tyson Foods including Senior Regional Regulatory Manager, Senior Regional Spec and Labeling Manager and Associate FSQA Director (Beef) prior to taking his current role with CFG. Tim received his Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Penn State University.

Manoj Virippil started his career with IBP-Tyson 27 years ago as an Automation Engineer. He currently oversees the Automation & Technology group and the Packaging group for Fresh Meats. He is in the Operations Support group providing services to the beef, pork, and PPI business units. His team is responsible for providing automation engineering solutions to optimize labor and improve efficiency with the priority of team member safety and food safety. Automation team has developed and implemented many state-of-the-art technology projects in Fresh Meats plants under his leadership, resulting in multiple patents and significant savings. His responsibilities include developing strategic projects in harvest, processing and packaging areas either internally or in collaboration with leading meat industry solution providers.

Manoj was born and brought up in Southern India. Prior to joining IBP-Tyson, Manoj was in the Indian Air Force as a Pilot Officer trainee and also had a short stint at Modi-Xerox before immigrating to United Stated to pursue graduate studies. He has three master’s degrees. M.S. Physics, M.S. Engineering Technology and MBA.

Presentation: Bullet Session.