Susan Vaughn Grooters, director of research and education with STOP Foodborne Illness, will be the consumer representative on the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday. 

Grooters, who holds a master of public health degree in epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food sciences from the University of Vermont, will serve a two-year term on the 31-member NACMCF.

      

The NACMCF, established in 1988, provides scientific advice on public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the U.S. food supply. The committee also assists in the development of microbiological criteria and reviews and evaluates epidemiological and risk assessment data as well as methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards.

The committee serves the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (Food Safety and Inspection Service), Health and Human Services (Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Commerce (National Marine Fisheries Service), and Defense (Veterinary Service Activity).

The NACMCF meets twice annually with subcommittees meeting as often as necessary.