Upon joining Maple Leaf as Chief Food Safety Officer earlier this year, one of my first priorities was to bring together a team of independent experts to increase our knowledge in the areas of food safety, microbiology and public health.  The Maple Leaf Food Safety Advisory Council is comprised of some impressive food safety experts whose primary mandate is to challenge Maple Leaf’s status quo on our food safety program and keep us abreast of any new research, testing methods and other emerging trends from around the world. 

The following individuals have been appointed to the Food Safety Advisory Council:

 o  Dr. Harvey Anderson, Director, Program in Food Safety, Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs and Professor, Nutritional Science and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto;

o   Professor Colin Dennis, Chairman, Industry Advisory Group, International Agri-Technology Centre Ltd, and retired Managing Director of the Campden, BRI food research centre in the U.K.;

o   Dr. Mansel Griffiths Director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety and Chair of the Masters Program in Food Safety at the University of Guelph;

o   Dr. R. Bruce Tompkin, a microbiologist with more than 45 years in the food processing industry and one of the fathers of HACCP;

o    Mr. John Weisgerber, former Director of Quality for a major North American meat processor with nearly 40 years experience in quality and food safety management.

 We recently established the Council’s key priorities for the first year.  These include performing an ongoing critical review of our food safety strategy that will include recommendations on additions or modifications to advance Maple Leaf’s programs, provide insight on any global emerging food safety risks and guidance on Maple Leaf’s employee training and education programs

With our first meeting behind us, I know this accomplished team will bring a wealth of knowledge and breadth of expertise to Maple Leaf that will support our commitment to becoming a global leader in food safety.