Earthbound Farm was honored with the NSF Food Safety Leadership Award for systems improvement from NSF International at the 2012 Food Safety Summit in Washington D.C.
Winners are nominated by leaders in the food safety community and selected by an independent panel based on contributions to food safety, according to a news release.
Earthbound Farms implemented its food safety program just two weeks after the 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak. The company now tests produce for pathogens twice, waits for the results and destroys any lots that come back with positive tests.
This testing method catches approximately 3,000 pounds of contaminated salad, out of 2 million pounds processed, from reaching markets each week, according to the release.
The program is led by Will Daniels, senior vice president of quality, food safety and organic integrity.
Two individuals were also honored:
- Vijay Juneja, lead scientist of the predictive microbiology for food safety at the Agricultural Research Service’s Eastern Regional Research Center, received the NSF award for research advances; and
- Ewen Todd, president of Ewen Todd Consulting and former director of the food safety policy center for Michigan State University, received the lifetime achievement award.
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