Expert Details
Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Microbiology, Lab Services, Food Processing & Statistics
ID: 740159
Arkansas, USA
Expert is the President and CEO of a consultancy, where he provides food safety and quality consulting services focused on system improvement, crisis resolution and prevention, data analytics, and Statistical Process Control. He serves as an expert witness in food safety-related litigation, and counsels venture equity managers pursuing growth opportunities in the food manufacturing and allied industries. Most recently, Expert was recruited out of retirement to serve as the Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance for the largest poultry products producer in the Western USA. Prior to retirement and consulting, Expert was employed by Tyson Foods for 31 years, retiring in 2019 as the Senior Vice President of Food Safety and Quality Assurance. In this role, he had enterprise-wide responsibilities for the food safety and quality policies, procedures, and staff including regulatory compliance, laboratory services, consumer relations, and sanitation services.
Expert held a Secretarial Appointment to the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Food. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Global Food Safety Initiative; a past member of the GS1-US Retail Grocery Initiative's Executive Leadership Committee; a past member of the Board of Directors of the California Poultry Federation and the Board of Directors of the Ozark Food Processors’ Association; he remains a member of the National Chicken Council and the National Turkey Federation Technical and Regulatory Committees; he was formerly a member of the North American Meat Institute Scientific Advisory Committee and Inspection Advisory Committee; a member of the Retail Food Safety and Quality Professional Development Group at the International Association for Food Protection, and the founding treasurer of the Arkansas Affiliate of IAFP; he served numerous terms on Council III of the Conference for Food Protection; and was an American Society for Quality, Certified Quality Engineer. He has served as the face of enterprises to regulatory agencies such as the CDC, FDA, USDA, and various international bodies, ensuring adherence to stringent food safety standards.
Expert holds an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School and a Ph.D. in Poultry Science with an emphasis in microbial food safety from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He is a certified Quality Engineer and HACCP Instructor, with numerous accolades for his contributions to the food safety industry.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2014 | Degree: PhD | Subject: Poultry Science; Microbial Food Safety | Institution: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville |
| Year: 2007 | Degree: BS | Subject: Microbiology | Institution: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville |
| Year: 2004 | Degree: MBA | Subject: International Business | Institution: Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2019 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: President & CEO | Department: |
Responsibilities:Food safety and quality consultant and expert witness for litigation. Providing consulting for food safety and quality, crisis resolution, legislative / regulatory guidance involving recalls, risk mitigation, and or regulatory compliance.• $15 million in potential damages mitigated by assessing claims viability and the actions taken by the company to address compliance as compared with industry standards to support litigation defense. • Expert plaintiff witness for multi-billion-dollar litigation associated with food contamination associated deaths and disabilities. • Expert guidance and program development to 100s of food manufacturing clients, venture capitalists exploring mergers and acquisitions, and food service and retail operators interested in supplier risk mitigation. • Assured food safety and prevented finished product contamination for companies producing and marketing meat, poultry, and prepared foods, fresh produce, bakery, and dairy products, by developing and assisting with implementation of a world-class FSQA system. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2022 to 2024 | Employer: Foster Poultry Farms, LLC | Title: Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance | Department: |
Responsibilities:Largest poultry products producer in the western USA. Maintained enterprise-wide responsibility (domestic, international, all product brands encompassing Prepared Foods, Beef, Pork, Poultry, and Turkey Products) for food safety and quality policies, procedures, and staff in 14 third-party certified processing facilities, 2 laboratories, with ~ 500 food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) personnel, including regulatory compliance / sanitation services, supplier / co-manufacturer management, and consumer relations. Led the overhaul and standardization of the FSQA systems to return to world-class performance to ensure consumer, customer, and brand protection. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2015 to 2019 | Employer: Tyson Foods, Inc. | Title: Senior Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance | Department: IBP, Hillshire Brands, Sara Lee, & Keystone Foods |
Responsibilities:Maintained enterprise-wide responsibility (domestic, international, all subsidiaries and product brands encompassing Prepared Foods, Baked Sweet Goods, Mexican Foods, Fresh Meats, Poultry, Pet Products, and Specialty Products) for food safety and quality policies, procedures, and staff dispersed across 145 third-party certified processing facilities globally, 158 laboratories, with ~ 3,500 food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) personnel, including specifications and labeling, nutrition services, regulatory compliance / sanitation services, supplier / co-manufacturer management, and consumer relations.• Managed all technical shared service functions with 9 direct reports (4 VPs, 4 Sr. Directors, and 1 Sr. Manager) and responsibilities for the enterprise portfolio of brands, products, and customers. • $12 Billion in increased annual revenues realized by leading the technical services teams through due diligence, acquisition, and integration of numerous acquired companies. Total synergy capture budget reduction of over $20 M/Y following a major acquisition via staff consolidation, in-housing lab services, implementation of consistent policies, programs, and procedures, and renegotiation of service contracts for testing, inspection, and certification services. • Introduced the Tyson Quality Manufacturing (TQM) process, an integrated, holistic approach to product / process control, specification criteria, and customer satisfaction utilizing concepts of SPC, HACCP/HARPC, voice of customer, lean manufacturing, six sigma, and cost containment by leveraging technology to improve quality and cost. • $13.5 M/Y increase in commercial lab services revenue (P&L for WBA Lab Services, a wholly owned subsidiary in a B2B environment) achieved at an average 64% EBIT margin by marketing services and developing proprietary methodologies to expand offerings, and modifying work flows to increase productive capacity. • Negotiated and executed contracts for all third-party Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) services, and for supply chain management, compliance, and transparency software solutions while leading the conversion to, and integrating with, SAP HANA. • Obtained capital to update, enhance safety, and broaden lab capacities (net savings through insourcing testing at acquisition companies ~ $10 M/Y) and capabilities to eliminate USDA audit non-compliance findings, increase space, and drive commercial revenue generation. • $10 million reduction in recall insurance and recall management service expenses accomplished without minimizing coverage through negotiations with insurance brokers. • Led the expansion of co-manufacturing to meet business needs as the company strategically shifted toward a CPG business model. To minimize capital employed and drive product innovation, business unit leadership demanded a 5X increase in approved co-manufacturing locations in a 4-year period (~ 250 approved locations). • Technical representative to the Board of Directors with quarterly reporting to the compliance, legislative affairs, brand protection, and compensation subcommittees. • Elected to the Board of Directors of the Global Food Safety Initiative. • Elected to the Board of Directors of GS-1, US. • Food Safety Committee Advisor for several National Account customers. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2005 to 2015 | Employer: Tyson Foods, Inc. | Title: Vice President of Food Safety & Quality Assurance | Department: Prepared Foods & Poultry Divisions |
Responsibilities:Supported major retail, food service, national accounts, government, export, and international operations, customers, and brands. Worked with all business units to ensure consistency in the face to the customer, regulators, NGOs, providing world-class brand and risk protection. Broad product exposure including bakery products (tortillas, taco shells, chips, granola, sweet goods), deli meats, fermented sausages, jerky, egg products, plant-based meat substitutes, pet treats,specialty products, and canned foods produced in 55 domestic and global facilities. • $250 million in claims and quality cost savings associated with reduction of foreign materials in food products reached by working cross-functionally to establish best practices in facility and equipment design, process control, policies, and staff training and by creating a program to prevent contamination, product claims, complaints, recalls, and litigation. • Integrated Sara Lee and Hillshire FSQA and Technical Service staffs into the existing shared service units, consolidating head count, policies / procedures, in-housing lab testing / research services while standardizing product testing and specification compliance verification, consumer relations, specifications and labeling, nutrition services, regulatory compliance / sanitation services, supplier / co-manufacturer management, implementing Plant. View automated data acquisition, analysis, and reporting throughout operations while harmonizing key performance metrics and performance reporting, integrating inventory control for warehouse management / hold / release, and renegotiating third-party service contracts for testing, certification, and the consumer call center. • Converted FSQA activities to SAP-HANA enterprise-wide to ensure reliable inventory control, sales order management, continued customer service, and timely access to inventory across dedicated and third-party warehousing and distribution networks to prevent nonconforming products from entering the market. • $20 million in enterprise-wide FSQA budget savings impacting EBIT, COGS, and SG&A through the grow the enabled financial fitness initiative in a cross-divisional collaboration. • Led an industry-wide task force to devise sanitary design and safety mandates for equipment manufacturers to restore customer trust in the industry after multiple recalls of sliced deli meat products for the presence of L.m. and poultry products for the presence of Salmonella spp. and foreign materials. • 99% decrease in microbial contamination of raw beef and poultry products attained by leading a pathogen reduction group to identify and apply cost-effective interventions that exceeded regulatory and customer requirements that reduced costs and litigation while bolstering consumer confidence. • Secretarial Appointment to the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Foods advising staffs at CDC, FDA, and USDA. • Appointed to the Executive Leadership Council of GS-1 US, Retail. • Advocated for food safety as a founding member and treasurer of the Arkansas Chapter of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). Developed membership processes, established budget controls, coordinated chapter meetings and annual program speakers. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1995 to 2004 | Employer: Tyson Foods, Inc. | Title: Senior Director of Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance | Department: All Business Units |
Responsibilities:• $25 billion in revenues safeguarded by steering corporate-wide training and implementation of HACCP/SSOP regulatory requirements. Trained more individuals in IHA-certified HACCP and Advanced HACCP Principles than any other company or entity.• Drove the company reputation for innovation and excellence in regulatory compliance by establishing the industry gold standard in facility sanitation and environmental pathogen monitoring that minimized product contamination, recalls, and regulatory enforcement activities (The Sentinel Site Program™, referenced in the USDA Compliance Guide as a “Model Industry Program” and available for industry-peers to download from the company external web page). Led the development and offering through the University of Arkansas Division of Continuing Education of a Master of Science degree in Food Safety via distance education. This became the largest graduate program of study in the entire U of A system. • Led the selection and contracting of third-party certification services from BRC, SGS, NSF, FSNS and others to meet retail customer deadlines for suppliers to obtain a GFSI certification of all food processing facilities. Responsible for maintaining facility certification through training, quarterly and annual corporate audits, internal and external audit corrective actions, contract maintenance and annual renegotiation of terms. • Responsible for establishing and maintaining FDA-facility registration for all food (bakery products), animal food, and specialty product producing facilities and coordinating preparation for FDA facility audits and coordinating corrective actions for audit findings. • $100+ million in revenue and supply chain continuity restored as the ambassador to the USDA-FSIS and customers after a product recall and lengthy shutdown of a poultry operation that required a new HACCP plan, product and process controls, and team retraining to rebuild confidence in the firm’s ability to produce safe products. • $50+ million in yearly savings garnered while drastically improving efficiency and data quality via introduction of a proprietary plant-floor, electronic data collection, reporting, and analysis database enabling process automation and statistical process control. • Elected to Council III of the Conference for Food Protection for multiple terms to advise senior FDA staff on modifications to the federal food code that establishes best practices for the foodservice and retailing industry and forms the foundation for state health department mandates. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1991 to 1994 | Employer: Tyson Foods, Inc. | Title: Director of Quality Improvement & Process Control | Department: |
Responsibilities:• $250+ million in yearly yield enhancement gained by introducing statistical process control and continuous improvement methods, which improved quality, consistency, compliance to specification, reduction in seconds, and customer satisfaction for fully cooked poultry products.• $100+ million in annual quality improvement and cost reductions generated through process improvement teams to decrease product seconds, improve yields, cash flow, re-engineer business processes, and enhance efficiencies in product development and specifications, and enable EDI transactions with retailers. • $100+ million in annual customer claims avoided by conceptualizing and launching statistical process controls and statistical sampling to ensure compliance with product specifications and consumer expectations. |
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Government Experience
| Years | Agency | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 1988 to 2024 | Agency: USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA) (FSIS) (AMS) (NPIP) (NOP) | Role: Member of Regulated Industry | Description: Company's face to the government (lobbyist), requiring expertise in USDA regulatory and legal requirements across all program areas. |
| Years: 1989 to 2023 | Agency: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | Role: Member of Regulated Industry | Description: Company's face to the government (lobbyist), requiring expertise in FDA regulatory and legal requirements across all program areas. |
| Years: 1988 to 2023 | Agency: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Role: Representative of Food Manufacturing Industry | Description: Company's face to the government (lobbyist), requiring expertise in epidemiology, food tracing, toxicology, microbiology, and outbreak investigations. |
| Years: 2018 to 2023 | Agency: National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Food (NACMCF) | Role: Secretarial Appointment | Description: Appointed member of NACMCF advising representatives of the CDC, FDA, and USDA on policy related to the microbiological safety of foods and regulatory programs providing industry oversight. |
| Years: 2000 to 2008 | Agency: FDA | Role: Member of Council III | Description: Industry representative on Council III of the Conference for Food Protection advising representatives of the FDA on the Model Food Code for the restaurant and hospitality industry. |
International Experience
| Years | Country / Region | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Years: 2000 to 2018 | Country / Region: China | Summary: Representative of the food processing industry to US Foreign Ag Service, US Embassy staff, US Department of State, and USTR in consultations with representatives of the Chinese government to facilitate trade through reduction of technical trade barriers. |
| Years: 1996 to 2019 | Country / Region: Mexico | Summary: Representative of the food processing industry to US Foreign Ag Service, US Embassy staff, US Department of State, and USTR in consultations with representatives of the Mexican government to facilitate trade through reduction of technical trade barriers. |
| Years: 1998 to 2019 | Country / Region: Russia | Summary: Representative of the food processing industry to US Foreign Ag Service, US Embassy staff, US Department of State, and USTR in consultations with representatives of the Russian Federation government to facilitate trade through reduction of technical trade barriers. |
| Years: 2004 to 2019 | Country / Region: World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization | Summary: Representative of the food processing industry to WHO/FAO and the CODEX Committee. |
Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| • Member, National Chicken Council • Member, National Turkey Federation Technical and Regulatory Committees • Member, Retail Food Safety and Quality Professional Development Group at the International Association for Food Protection • Former Member, North American Meat Institute Scientific Advisory Committee and Inspection Advisory Committee |
| Licenses / Certifications |
|---|
| Certified Quality Engineer, American Society for Quality Certified HACCP Instructor | Certified Advanced HACCP Instructor Food Contamination Prevention Certificate, Department of Homeland Security National Marine Fisheries HACCP-Based Certification, NOAA Seafood Inspection Program HACCP Meat & Poultry Products Training, American Meat Institute |
| Professional Appointments |
|---|
| • Former Secretarial Appointment, National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Food • Former member of the Board of Directors, Global Food Safety Initiative • Former member, GS1-US Retail Grocery Initiative's Executive Leadership Committee • Former member of the Board of Directors, California Poultry Federation • Former member of the Board of Directors, Ozark Food Processors’ Association • Founding Treasurer, Arkansas Affiliate of IAFP • Served numerous terms on Council III of the Conference for Food Protection • Certified Quality Engineer, American Society for Quality |
Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
|---|
| Expert witness to both plaintiff and defense legal teams in multimillion-dollar claims involving foodborne illnesses and injuries. |
Fields of Expertise
food safety, applied microbiology, applied statistics, analytical laboratory, Customer Service, consumer relations, sanitation, advanced product quality planning, American Society for Quality Control, analytical data quality assurance, continuous quality improvement, food industry quality assurance, food industry quality management, animal-protein food product, Association of Food and Drug Officials, economically motivated adulteration of food, emerging food pathogen, Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, food additive, food allergy, food analysis, food analytical chemistry, Food and Agriculture Organization, Food and Drug Administration, Food and Drug Administration compliance, food business, food chemistry, food contamination, Food Defense, food facility, food industry total quality control, food industry total quality management, food industry troubleshooting, food irradiation, food microbiology, Food and Drug Administration regulation, food preservation