The First Section Since 1941

8:45-9:45 AM: Navigating the Job Market in the Digital Age

 

Learn from panelists Julie Kedzior, Director of Human Resources at Prinova USA, a representative from LinkedIn, a Career Coach, Contract Hiring Specialists Aerotek Scientific, and Contract and Direct Hiring Specialists Lab Support.

 

Julie Kedzior

Prinova USA - Director, Human Resources

 

Julie Kedzior, the HR Director Prinova.  During my tenure of 13+ years, the company has experienced continual growth and the recruiting efforts have drastically changed over that period of time.  Using many different variations to solicit candidates is key in finding qualified people.  Hiring individuals not only to fill a position, but rather to build a career is Prinova’s current focus.  Skill set is important, but fitting into the culture is one of the prerequisites for any candidate to be successful.

 

10-11:30 AM: The Preventive Controls Showcase

 

The Preventive Controls Showcase from 10-11:30 AM features panelists Bob Brackett and IFSH (formerly GMA and FDA-CFSAN), Dr. Purnendu Vasavada with the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA), Janet Raddatz, VP of Regulatory Quality and Food Safety at Sargento Foods, and Don Jones, VP of QA at Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. and moderated by Tim Stubbs, Vice President of Product Research and Food Safety at Dairy Management, Inc.

 

The panel will offer a candid discussion on FSMA’s Final Rules on Preventive Controls, offering advice to the audience from robust regulatory and experiential perspectives. A Moderator-led Question and Answer format will offer an insightful view on Environmental Monitoring Program design, implementation, and corrective action response.

 

Robert E. Brackett

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Vice President and Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH)

 

Robert E. Brackett, PhD, serves as Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Vice President and Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH). In this capacity, he serves on the IIT administrative leadership team, as well as directs the scientific and educational programs at IFSH.  Dr Brackett has over 30 years of experience in food safety research, training, and policy.  Prior to coming to IIT, Dr. Brackett served as Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Regulatory officer for the Washington D.C. based Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA).  Before joining GMA, he served at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA CFSAN), where he started as a senior microbiologist in the Office of Plant and Dairy Foods and Beverages in 2000.  After several promotions, Dr. Brackett was appointed CFSAN Director, where from 2004-2007 he provided executive leadership to CFSAN’s development and implementation of programs and policies relative to the composition, quality, safety and labeling of foods, food and color additives, dietary supplements and cosmetics. Earlier in his career, Dr. Brackett held professorial positions with North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and the University of Georgia.

 

Dr. Brackett is a fellow in the International Association for Food Protection and American Academy of Microbiology and is a member of the International Association for Food Protection, Institute of Food Technologists, the American Society for Microbiology, Association of Food and Drug Officials, AOAC, and the Food and Drug Law Institute. He has been honored with the FDA Award of Merit, the FDA Distinguished Alumni Award, the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, and the International Association for Food Protection's President’s Appreciation Award, and, the William C. Frazier Food Microbiology Award.  Dr. Brackett received his doctorate in food microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

Dr. Purnendu Vasavada is a Professor Emeritus of Food Science, University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Principal of the PCV & Associates, LLC. For 34 years, Dr. Vasavada served as Professor of Food Science at the UW-River Falls and Food Safety and Microbiology Extension Specialist. He is internationally recognized for his innovative teaching and training programs in Food Science and Technology, Milk Quality and Dairy Microbiology, and Rapid Methods and Automation in Food Microbiology.

 

In 2011, Dr. Vasavada was appointed as a FDA-ORISE Fellow and the Coordinator of the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA). One of the founding members of the FSPCA, Dr. Vasavada currently has served on the FSPCA Steering committee, Education subcommittee, Continuation committee and is currently involved in the FSPCA work on Preventive Controls training and outreach and technical assistance program.

 

Dr. Vasavada is active in several scientific and professional organizations, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the IFT, and the IAFP. He has received numerous awards and professional honors, including the Elmer Marth Educator award (IAMFES 1997), UW Extension’s Program Innovation Award (2010), the Harry Haverland Citation Award (IAFP 2011), the GMA Food Safety award, FDA’s award of merit and FDA-CFSAN’s Honorary Achievement award.

 

 

Janet Raddatz

VP of Regulatory Quality and Food Safety, Sargento Foods

 

Janet Raddatz is Vice President of Quality & Food Safety Systems at Sargento Foods Inc. in Plymouth, WI. Janet has been involved in the development, implementation, and auditing of quality and food safety systems for over 35 years.  Janet holds a master’s degree in quality from Marian College, WI and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.  She is a Fellow in the American Society for Quality, an ASQ-certified quality manager, quality engineer and quality auditor.  She is also a Six Sigma Black Belt. Janet is a contributing author for the 5th Edition of Supplier Management Handbook.

 

She is actively involved in many industry activities including the National Cheese Institute Regulatory Committee, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board FSMA Working Group, and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy Food Safety Operating Committee.  Since 2006 she has held an appointed position on the Board of Visitors for the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Madison.   She is a Wisconsin Master Naturalist and an active member of the International Crane Foundation, Bat Conservation International, and the Midwest Bat Working Group.  As a Registered Yoga Teacher, Janet volunteers her time to teach yoga classes at Sargento for employees.

 

Don Jones

VP of QA, Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.

 

Don Jones is responsible for Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory compliance for Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. Additional responsibilities include oversight of documentation systems, consumer affairs and the company call center, all based in Denver, Colorado. Atkins supply chain encompasses ingredient suppliers, co-manufacturers, and the company’s distribution facilities.

 

Joining Atkins in March 2012, he previously worked with ConAgra Foods for 25 years. He has held QA and R&D positions supporting retail, food service and industrial businesses with increased responsibility. Advancing from plant to corporate roles that supported various manufactured food including; meat and poultry slaughter through processing to ready-to-eat (RTE), dairy, (RTE) seafood, snack foods including (popcorn, peanut butter and jarred sauces), various frozen and canned foods, edible oils, frozen and dehydrated vegetables, aseptic and near aseptic products, flour milling, and animal feed production facilities. Functional responsibilities included Operations Quality, Supplier Quality, Food Safety, Sanitation, Micro, Analytical and Physical Chemistry labs, Labeling, Specification and Documentation management, R&D, and Consumer Affairs.

 

Tim Stubbs, CFS

Vice President Product Research, Dairy Management Inc.

 

As Vice President of Product Research and Food Safety at DMI, Tim leads the food safety activities of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, a large committee of food safety expert volunteers from dairy companies and co-ops.  Tim also leads National Dairy Council research programs at major Universities to drive dairy innovation and sales on behalf of America’s dairy farmers.  Tim has 25 years of food R&D experience in leadership roles at Kraft Foods and Sara Lee/Hillshire Brands.  He has a broad background in product development, process research, thermal processing, and food safety across a wide variety of products including milk, natural cheese, Velveeta, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Kraft American Singles, salad dressings, sauces, DiGiorno, Cool Whip, Miracle Whip, Minute Rice, Sara Lee, Hillshire Farms, Jimmy Dean, and Ball Park.

 

Tim is active in IFT, is a Certified Food Scientist, and holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

 

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Keynote: New Consumer Drivers, Demand, and Directions for Growth

 

Dr. A. Elizabeth Sloan

Contributing Editor Food Technology magazine

President, Sloan Trends, Inc.

 

Back by popular demand is Dr. A. Elizabeth Sloan, Contributing Editor of Food Technology Magazine, and CEO of Sloan Trends. Dr. Sloan will present the keynote entitled, "New Consumer Drivers, Demand, and Directions for Growth"

 

For over 15 years Dr. Sloan, Dr. Sloan has served as the consumer trends columnist for Food Technology magazine and is the creator and author of Food Technology's State-of-the-Industry reports including the Top 10 Food & Functional Food Trends; What, Where and When America Eats, Demographic reports and more. In 2013, she was awarded the IFT's Cal Willey Aware for outstanding service to the food industry. She has served as national President of IFT's Nutrition and Student Divisions.

 

Dr. Sloan is the former:

 

Editor-in-chief of McCalls magazine (333M readers)

Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute, Asst. Editor-in-chief, Good Housekeeping magazine (38M)

SVP International Food & Nutrition Hill 7 Knowlton Public Relations

1st Scientific Director Am. Assn. Cereal chemists, Editor Cereal Foods World/Cereal Chemistry

Director, Nutrition Communications Technical Services, General Mills Inc.

 

She has authored more than 450 articles on marketing food and nutrition; co-authored 2 two college textbooks on nutrition and appeared on numerous TV shows including Rock Center with Brian Williams, Good Morning America, Today, etc.

 

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