Food Safety Magazine, February/March 2013

USDA Seeks Comments on ProposedFrozen Vegetable Grade StandardsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is requestingcomments on proposed revisions to eight U.S. Standards forGrades of Frozen Vegetables.The proposed amendments wouldsimplify grade descriptions for frozenvegetable varieties of asparagus, limabeans, speckled butter beans, cookedsquash, summer squash, sweet potatoes,turnip greens with turnips andmixed vegetables. Grade classificationswould be standardized, allowing for a single descriptor for eachlevel. For example, U.S. Grade A or Fancy frozen vegetableswould be classified simply as U.S. Grade A. Proposed changeswould also include miscellaneous editorial revisions.Food Industry Saddened by Losses of FSM Boardmember Donald J. Graham and Tom ZierenbergDonald J. Graham, 80, died peacefully onJanuary 29, 2013, surrounded by family after a longstruggle with pneumonia and COPD. Don earned aB.S. and M.S. in food science and technology fromMichigan State University. He began his career atthe Green Giant Company in LeSueur, MN, followedby the William Underwood Company, thePet Corporation, the Sverdrup Engineering Company,where he was designated a Sverdrup Fellow,the corporation’s highest award for technical achievement, and JacobsEngineering. In 1999, Don launched Graham Sanitary Design Consultingas president. He performed numerous plant audits and has been inhundreds of food processing plants. Don’s accomplishments include beingon the Editorial Advisory Board and frequent author for Food SafetyMagazine and being a member of the Institute for Food Technologistsand the International Association for Food Protection. He has authoredover 35 articles on sanitary design and exceptionally appreciated chaptersfor books on hygienic food manufacturing, in which he emphasizedthe importance of mindset as the key factor for achieving food safety.Don is survived by his wife of 48 years, Dorothy, his two sons Christopherand Jonathan, and two grandchildren Emiko and Tomoki Graham.Microbac Laboratories, Inc. has regretfully announcedthe sudden death on January 15, 2013, ofTom Zierenberg, 53, of Pittsburgh, PA. For over 17years, Mr. Zierenberg had served Microbac Laboratories,Inc., in a variety of capacities and was particularlyinfluential in Microbac’s development ofits food testing and consulting services. He servedthe company in an operating capacity, leadingMicrobac’s Warrendale, PA laboratory, which providesfood and environmental testing services. Prior to joining Microbac,Tom had earned a degree in food science from The Pennsylvania StateUniversity and worked in a number of roles within the food industry.Tom is survived by his wife of 28 years, Cathy, and his two children, Jackand Kate.People & PlacesMicrobac’s Chicago division welcomes Mark Carteras director of food science.The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA)presented the GMA 2013 Industry CollaborationLeadership Award to Frederick J. Morganthall II,president and COO of Harris Teeter Inc., and Hall Carterof Achievement Awards to Timothy Smucker, chairman ofthe board, The J.M. Smucker Company, and Daniel Wegman,chief executive officer, Wegmans Food Markets, during the GMAChairman’s Lecture.Pura Vida Farms, pineapple importer and growerand shipper of melon products, has announced theselection of Mike Martori as vice president of EastCoast sales.Sealed Air Corporation has named Dr. IlhamMartori Kadri the new president of the Institutional andLaundry business unit.The Food Marketing Institute has announced Josh Katz,Ph.D., as its new director of food safety programs.The American Meat Institute (AMI) has announced SusanBackus as the executive director of the AMI Foundation, BetsyBooren as chief scientist of the AMI Foundation and Eric Zito asthe director of membership and exposition services.Bunting Magnetics Co. has made several appointmentsto the Bunting field sales organizationfor industrial products, expandingits existing North American sales force:Jason Cohen in Texas and Oklahoma,Darrick Litten in Ohio, West Virginia andCohenLittenwestern New York, and Dan Murphy inIllinois and Wisconsin.Purfresh named Patricia Castaneda as regionalsales director, South America.Retrotech Inc. has appointed Paul Deveikis as Murphythe new chief executive officer.Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced that Dr.Robert Gerszten has received an Agilent ThoughtLeader Award.Nilfisk Industrial Vacuums Division hasappointed Jamie O’Neill as director ofGersztensales.PRO*ACT, an American distributor of fresh produce,has promoted Brian Kane to chief operatingofficer.KaneCorrection from Our October/November 2012 IssueIn our news item about the book, Invisible Things, we stated thatthis book by Yasmine Motarjemi was written for food safety regulators.The author informs us that “although the book is intended to teach scienceof food safety, and will eventually contribute to the science-basedthinking, its target is not regulatory authorities but children, and throughthem, the general public.” Food Safety Magazine apologizes for theerror.10 F o o d S a f e t y M a g a z i n e