Eighteen new members of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods are in place, joining a dozen returning members in the mission to provide science-based advice about food safety to the federal government.
“The committee members represent a diverse group from academia, consumers, the food industry, laboratories, consultants and government agencies, all of which play an important role in providing scientific advice and expertise to USDA on food safety and wholesomeness,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in his Monday announcement of the new committee members.
The committee, abbreviated as NACMCF, was established in 1988 by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
It is a discretionary advisory committee that provides impartial scientific advice and peer reviews to food safety agencies on public health issues related to the safety and wholesomeness of domestic, imported and exported foods.
Recently completed NACMCF projects include the following final reports:
- “Response to Questions Posed by the Food Safety and Inspection Service Regarding Determination of the most Appropriate Technologies for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to Adopt in Performing Routine and Baseline Microbiological Analyses”
- “Parameters for Inoculated Pack/Challenge Study Protocols”
- “Assessment of the Food Safety Importance of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis“
New planned subcommittee work areas include:
- The study of microbiological criteria as indicators of process control or insanitary conditions; and
- Control strategies for reducing foodborne norovirus infections.
The new NACMCF members, appointed to serve two-year terms, are:
- Aaron Asmus, Hormel Foods Corporate Services LLC
- Peggy Cook, Wheatsheaf Group
- DeAnn Davis, Church Brothers Farms
- Dr. James Dickson, Iowa State University
- Dr. Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, University of Georgia
- Dr. Joseph Eifert, Virginia Tech
- Dr. Philip Elliott, Kellogg Company
- Dr. Wendy McMahon, Silliker Inc.
- Dr. Kathleen Glass, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus, North Carolina State University
- Ms. Patty Lewandowski, Florida Department of Health
- Dr. Angela Melton-Celsa, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- Dr. Haley Oliver, Purdue University
- Dr. Jenny Scott, Food and Drug Administration
- Dr. Scott Stillwell, Tyson Foods Inc.
- Dr. Valentina Trinetta, Kansas State University
- Dr. Alissa Wilma, Department of Defense
- Dr. Francisco Zagmutt, EpiX Analytics LLC
Reappointed NACMCF members are:
- Dr. Gary Acuff, Texas A&M University
- Ms. Vanessa Coffman, Consumer Representative
- Dr. Carolyn Hovde, University of Idaho
- Dr. Mohammad Koohmaraie, IEH Laboratories
- Dr. Bala Kottapalli, ConAgra Foods Inc.
- Dr. Margie Lee, Virginia Tech
- Dr. Evelyne Mbandi, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Dr. Omar Oyarzabal, University of Vermont
- Dr. Laurie Post, Diebel Laboratories
- Dr. John Ruby, Passport Food Safety Solutions
- Angela Ruple, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Dr. Robert Tauxe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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