U.S – The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), a member-based association of more than 4,500 food safety professionals committed to advancing food safety worldwide, has announced Ruth Petran as their new President.
Ruth Petran, who is a Senior Food Safety Advisor at the Acheson Group, and Founder of Ruth Petran Consulting in Eagan, Minn, assumed the Presidency at the conclusion of IAFP 2021, taking over from Roger Cook.
The association’s presidency is a one-year term that all executive board members eventually assume as they progress through the ranks.
As a 35-year IAFP Member, Petran has presented in and led symposia at numerous IAFP Annual Meetings, actively takes part in PDGs and on various committees. She received the Fellow Award in 2018, the IAFP Developing Scientist Award in 1987, has served on several award selection committees, and is a founding member of the IAFP Affiliate, the Minnesota Food Protection Association. She served on the Food Protection Trends (FPT) Editorial Board from 2005-2013. She currently serves on IAFP’s Editorial Board for the “Food Microbiology and Food Safety” book series, published by Springer.
She retired in 2020 as RD&E senior corporate scientist and vice president of food safety and public health at Ecolab in Eagan, where she provided technical expertise and risk-based consultation to internal and external customers on food safety and public health issues by identifying and tracking emerging food safety trends and new control strategies.
Petran routinely developed food safety messaging for customers and colleagues on a wide variety of topics, such as Ecolab’s scientific materials on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Prior to joining Ecolab, Petran was a Research Microbiologist and Supplier Quality Manager at Pillsbury, as well as Specifications Manager and Quality Regulatory Operations Manager at General Mills, both in Minnesota. She managed quality and food safety programs while maintaining a link to business teams and has led food safety assessments at food manufacturing facilities worldwide, focusing on the application of HACCP systems and regulatory compliance.
Petran holds a bachelor’s degree in Consumer Food Science from Cornell University in New York, and a master’s degree in Food Science and doctorate in public health, both from the University of Minnesota.
FDA Summit
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety Virtual Summit scheduled for Oct 19-21, 2021 on E-Commerce: Ensuring the Safety of Foods Ordered Online and Delivered Directly to Consumers.
The goal for the summit is to convene industry and consumer experts, government officials, stakeholders and other interested parties for a discussion and exchange of perspectives about the safety of human and animal foods produced, manufactured, sold and delivered directly to consumers through e-commerce.
Summit participants will discuss the regulatory framework that apply to these foods and ways to strengthen food safety. More specifics, including information on how to register for the summit will follow in the Federal Register and on the FDA website.
