IFT NEWS
USDA honors Bauman
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has created an award to honor deceased former IFT President and food safety pioneer Howard E. Bauman.
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman presented the first Howard E. Bauman Award for Food Safety at a science symposium hosted by FSIS in May. The award—created to recognize individuals showing longstanding commitment, leadership, and service to improving food safety—was given posthumously to Bauman and was accepted by his daughters, Victoria Zobel and Kay Rose.
Bauman, who passed away in August last year, was the innovator behind the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system. He was instrumental in developing HACCP in the 1960s to provide uncontaminated food to astronauts. While with the Pillsbury Co., Bauman worked collaboratively with government scientists to develop the HACCP approach to ensuring the safety of food, which is now required by USDA in all federal and state inspected meat and poultry plants.
Active in a number of professional societies, Bauman joined IFT in 1954. A member of the Minnesota Section, he was also a member of the IFT Forward Planning Committee, Ad Hoc Committee on Funding, and World Food Program Committee, the IFT Finance Subcommittee, was named a permanent member of the Minnesota National Council, was the first chairman of the IFT Nutrition Committee (now Division), and was jury chair of at least four achievement award committees. He served as IFT President from 1977 to 1978.
In 1975, Bauman was named an IFT Fellow, cited as “one of the leading nutritionists in the industrial segment of the United States.”
Worrell named Certified Research Chef
IFT Member Branton Worrell, Executive Research Chef at Illes Seasonings & Flavors, recently became the ninth chef in the U.S. to earn the title Certified Research Chef given by the Research Chefs Association, based in Atlanta, Ga.
Certified chefs must meet certain requirements in education, foodservice culinary experience, and food science research and development experience. The candidate must then pass a rigorous test focusing on food science.
Certification distinguishes the research chefs as knowledgeable leaders in their field. Prior to working at Illes, Worrell served as Research and Development Chef at Simmons Foods. He earned an associate degree in occupational studies in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America and received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado.
IFT REGIONAL SECTION & DIVISION NEWS
Chicago: Palumbo Gives 40th Tanner Lecture
Research Microbiologist Samuel Palumbo gave the Chicago Section’s 40th Fred W. Tanner Lecture on “Salmonella—The Saga Continues” at the Section’s May meeting.
The lectureship was established to advance the profession and practice of food technology by bringing to Chicago outstanding persons in this field or related sciences to speak on advances in their fields. It was named in honor of the late Tanner, who was a professor of bacteriology at the University of Illinois and a world-renowned authority on microbiology of food. Tanner was also a founding member of IFT and served as President in 1946.
Palumbo, this year’s honoree, was with USDA’s Eastern Regional Research Center for 33 years, where he conducted extensive research on Salmonella and food safety. After retiring from the USDA, he joined the National Center for Food Safety and Technology as an Adjunct Professor.
Palumbo reviewed the characteristics of the organism and the incidence of salmonellosis over the years, then shared his research experiences and discussed the current trends in Salmonella control, including the present emphasis on pathogen reduction/HACCP.
Dixie: Students Win Paper Competition
The University of Georgia Food Science Club hosted the Dixie Student Recognition Dinner and the Phi Tau Sigma Student Paper Competition at the Georgia Botanical Gardens in Athens, Ga., in April.
Guest speaker Rakesh Singh, Head of the Dept. of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, spoke on “Life–Long Learning: Opportunities and Challenges.”
The paper competition was open to students from several universities in the Southeast. This year’s five finalists were all University of Georgia students. The winners were Kasha Holownia (1st Place), Jennifer Ackerly (2nd Place), Rodrigo Roesch (3rd Place), Steve Kenney (4th Place), and Christine Chu (5th Place).
by SARA LANGEN
Assistant Editor