The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, Sacramento, has appointed Willette Crawford to compliance officer.
Crawford will also serve as compliance officer of the Arizona LGMA, according to a news release. She succeeds Jonathan Field, who is retiring from the California LGMA after 12 years. She will stay in the position until June 30, in a transition period, working with Crawford.
“The role of the compliance officer is integral to the LGMA food safety program, it is one of the things that makes this program so unique and effective,” Scott Horsfall, CEO of the California LGMA, said in the release. “Willette Crawford has the perfect combination of leafy greens industry and regulatory experience. We are pleased that she will be filling this role and working with us to protect public health.”
Crawford has 13 years of experience in food safety in the produce industry. She has been in roles throughout the supply chain for Growers Express, Chiquita Brands International and its Fresh Express division, and at Produce Alliance. She was in a food safety role for produce at the Food and Drug Administration. She led the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition first environmental assessment to investigate a E. coli 0145 outbreak associated with lettuce, according to the release.
She also worked with the FDA on developing the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule.
“I’m excited to be working with the leafy greens industry, it’s where I started and I consider it home base,” Crawford said in the release. “Given the outbreaks of the past few years, I’m hopeful my education and experience can help to make improvements. I look forward to the opportunity to work with the industry to make leafy greens even safer.”
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